Customer-to-customer interactions on customer citizenship behavior

This study examines how both positive and negative customer-to-customer interactions (CCIs) simultaneously influence customer citizenship behavior. Specifically, we posit that (1) positive CCI and dysfunctional customer behavior (negative CCI) influence customers’ affection with service, (2) customers’ affection with service leads to positive customer citizenship behavior, and (3) service providers’ relationship investment moderates the relationships between positive (negative) CCI and customers’ affection with service. The study sample consisted of 362 customers at a major public recreation center in South Korea. We used latent moderated structural equation modeling and the bootstrapping technique to test the proposed hypotheses. The results offer full support for the expected differential effects of positive CCI and dysfunctional customer behavior on customer citizenship behavior, and provide important implications for research and practice.     

Influence of customer–firm relationships on customer participation in the service industry

Previous research has focused on relationship value and outcome as ‘consequence variables’ of customer participation (CP). This study examines customer–firm relationships as an ‘antecedent variable’ of CP. Early contact and relationships with customers build confidence in the service encounter and create customer trust, which leads to commitment and improves customer cooperation. Likewise, interaction and relationship building in the service encounter encourage active customer cooperation and participation in the later stages of interaction. This study analyzes the influence of relational antecedent factors affecting customer participation intention, examines the moderating effects of customer relationship proneness, and suggests some theoretical and practical implications.     

Oh my gosh,I got to get out of this place! A qualitative study of vicarious embarrassment in service encounters

Vicarious embarrassment is a negative emotion, which is experienced by an individual when others misbehave. People can feel vicariously embarrassed when observing other people's pratfalls or awkward appearance. For instance, vicarious embarrassment is elicited when watching reality TV or in service encounters where many other customers are present. However, the relevance of vicarious embarrassment in physical service environments has not yet been thoroughly analyzed in the context of service encounters. The objective of the present study is to close this research gap and to introduce the phenomenon of vicarious embarrassment to service research. The findings of 25 in‐depth interviews indicate that vicariously embarrassing incidents mostly occur in service encounters and that these incidents are triggered by the violation of social norms in both customer‐to‐customer and customer‐to‐employee interactions. The authors of the present paper identified closeness of relationship, the service context, and parties involved as important situational variables influencing vicarious embarrassment and further emotional, cognitive, and behavioral consequences for the observing person. From a managerial point of view, the relevance of vicarious embarrassment in physical service environments is caused by negative spillover effects of the service experience, which lead to decreasing customer satisfaction, negative word‐of‐mouth and purchase intentions, and a negative impact on the overall image of the service provider.     

Sources of Customer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction with Information Technology Help Desks

As the use, development, and control of information systems diffuses through organizations and society, the importance of the information technology help desk in effective management and use of information resources increases. This study examines service encounters with help desks to understand the events and behaviors that cause customers to distinguish very satisfactory from very dissatisfactory service. While considerable research has investigated the determinants of customer satisfaction with service encounters in retail industries such as airlines, restaurants, and hotels, there has been little work investigating the dimensions of professional service encounters. Using the critical incident technique, the authors analyzed over 500 incidents from customers of information services. Help desk critical incidents were classified into three broad categories which were further subdivided into 12 categories which lead to satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The three broad categories, core service delivery failures, customer situation, and helper characteristics and behavior, were consistent with categories found in previous service encounter research, while the subcategories were different in several ways. This suggests that some dimensions of service encounter satisfaction are consistent across service industries, while others are context specific.     

Order effect of multi-touchpoints on Generation Z consumers

Abundant user-generated content has increasingly driven consumers to form or modify their purchasing decisions based on interactions with other consumers, although the extant research overlooks the customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction touchpoints. Based on the customer journey characteristics of cross-channel and multi-frequency interactions, this study explores the impact of interaction valence and interaction channel sequence on Generation Z consumers' purchase attitudes from the perspective of attitude modification process. Using a scenario-based experimental design in a restaurant setting, we sample 616 Generation Z students. Findings suggest that C2C interactions that have the same valence at each touchpoint strengthen Generation Z consumers' initial purchase attitude, whereas inconsistent valences modify purchase attitudes. Our results reveal that a negative-to-positive ordering is more conducive to the formation of a positive purchase attitude than a positive-to-negative ordering. Moreover, the cross-channel sequence of a customer journey moderates the inconsistent valence order such that the positive-to-negative order improves purchase attitude more than the negative-to-positive order. This study explains theoretically the difference of ambivalent experiences on Generation Z consumer attitudes. We provide practical suggestions for multi-channel restaurant enterprises to successfully employ customer journey touchpoint management.     

服务质量构成要素对顾客满意影响力差异研究--现有顾客同潜在顾客间的比较

本研究通过对银行服务业现有顾客样本和潜在顾客样本的比较分析发现:两种不同类型的顾客样本分析结果都显示服务互动质量和结果质量要素对顾客满意都有显著正影响,顾客满意对(重复)购买或口头传播等行为意向有积极效应。物理环境质量对顾客满意的显著影响效应只是在潜在顾客样本中发现,而在现有顾客样本中并不显著。现有顾客样本的分析结果显示三方面服务质量要素对顾客满意的影响力是有显著差异的,而对于潜在顾客样本,三方面的服务质量要素对顾客满意的形成所起的作用没有显著差别。     

企业支持行为有利于顾客参与价值创造吗?——来自在线定制行业的实证分析

企业支持行为对顾客参与价值共创作用的研究主要聚焦于企业支持行为对顾客参与共创水平的影响,而对顾客参与和服务结果之间关系的作用分析较少,也忽视了在线共创情景中顾客对服务结果贡献归因的差异。本研究以归因理论为基础,探讨在线价值共创过程中企业支持行为的作用,通过322份在线定制行业的顾客问卷分析,得出结论:在线共创情景中,顾客参与通过增强体验价值来提高服务满意度;感知企业支持在顾客参与和体验价值之间有显著负向调节作用;顾客对自身参与表现的满意程度和感知企业支持在顾客参与和体验价值之间有显著的联合调节效应,即顾客对自身参与表现的满意程度弱化了感知企业支持的调节效应。     

A re-examination of the antecedents and impact of customer participation in service

Customer participation has been argued to be a critical influence on customer satisfaction with the service received, but empirical studies are relatively lacking. This study proposes a theoretical model of the antecedents and impact of customer participation in service and re-examines the relationships among organizational support, socialization, customer participation, and customer satisfaction. Findings of a questionnaire completed by tourists of a Taiwanese theme park indicated that: (1) customer perceptions of support and socialization significantly and positively influence customer participation; (2) perceived support and socialization have a significant and positive influence on customer satisfaction; (3) the directly positive relationship between customer participation and satisfaction is not supported in this study.     

I don't want to be a rule enforcer during the COVID-19 pandemic: Frontline employees' plight

This research explores the pandemic-related experiences of frontline employees (FLEs) relative to customer rule-enforcement interactions within retail and service industries. Using a survey, incorporating closed-ended and CIT questions, we investigated, from the FLEs' perspectives, the occupational stress of rule-enforcement, company expectations of FLEs regarding rule enforcement, and the emotional impact of customer interactions on FLEs. Results indicate that several customer misbehaviors, such as not following rules and being rude, produce significant occupational stress. Further, based on our CIT assessments, many of the FLEs’ recounted rule-enforcement incidents involved negative customer reactions, translating to heightened negativity for FLEs due to emotional contagion.     

Establishing Logistics Service Strategies That Increase Sales

While the linkage between logistics performance and firm performance has received attention in the literature, typically firm performance is measured as customer satisfaction and customer loyalty rather than share of business or other measures that translate into a financial benefit. Thus logistics executives continue to be judged primarily on cost and asset reductions. Only one study has documented how logistics performance affects customer satisfaction and the percentage of business allocated to the suppliers as well as the differences in outcomes between firms identified as primary and secondary suppliers (Leuschner et al. 2012 ). In this research, we use samples in the motion picture and video production industry, and the plastic materials and resins industry to investigate the impact of the Marketing Mix on customer satisfaction and share of business. Our results differ from Leuschner et al. ( 2012 ) regarding the impact of product, price, and promotion on customer satisfaction, but we confirm the impact of logistics performance on customer satisfaction and the relationship between customer satisfaction and share of business for primary and secondary suppliers combined. Finally, we provide a framework to identify logistics service strategies based on a customer's current profitability, potential growth, and the share of a customer's purchases obtained.     

The mediating effect of satisfaction on consumers' switching intention

Most previous research on consumers' switching intention has focused on individual variables that have immediate effects on consumers' intentions or behaviors, rather than analyzing it as a complex phenomenon. This article provides evidence that some service provider behaviors precipitate relationship dissolution, whereas other behaviors create a predisposition to switch. This different effect is observed through the mediating effect of customer satisfaction. While poor service quality and low firm commitment undermine consumer satisfaction and have only an indirect effect on switching intentions, price unfairness and anger incidents have a strong effect on switching, both directly and indirectly through satisfaction. Implications are discussed for customer relationship management. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

汽车服务业服务质量、顾客满意度与顾客忠诚度的实证分析

为了探讨汽车服务行业服务质量、顾客满意度与顾客认知、情感、意向、行为等四类忠诚度之间的关系,我们对广东省7家汽车4S店进行实证调查,结果发现:服务质量对顾客的认知、情感和意向忠诚度有直接的影响;顾客满意度对顾客四类忠诚度都有直接的影响,且顾客满意度对态度忠诚的影响大于其对行为忠诚的影响;在顾客四类忠诚度中,对顾客行为忠诚有直接影响的是认知忠诚和意向忠诚,其中意向忠诚的影响程度较大。     

Zone of tolerance for banks: a diagnostic model of service quality

Service quality has become an increasingly important factor for success and survival in the banking sector. Provision of high-quality service aids in meeting several requirements such as customer satisfaction and its consequent loyalty and market share, soliciting new customers, financial performance, and profitability (Cui, C.C., Lewis, B.R., & Park, W. (2003). Service quality measurement in the banking sector in South Korea. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 21(4), 191–201.). This paper presents the bank service quality measurement in its extended form. It deals with the concept of ‘zone of tolerance’ in judgments of service quality proposed by Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1993, The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 21(1), 1–12.). The ‘zone of tolerance’ is recognized in the service quality literature as representing a range of expectations and an area of acceptable outcomes in service interactions. The present study describes the zone of tolerance for young customers’ service expectations and determines the customer satisfaction level for banks. The study focusses only on the youth market to formulate long-term strategies because young customers tend to keep themselves up to date with latest technological developments. A conceptual model BANKZOT is presented in this study, and the results demonstrate that evaluation of services can be scaled according to different types of expectations – ‘desired' and ‘adequate’ – and that customers use these two types of expectations as a comparison standard in evaluating bank services. The findings reveal that young customers have a narrow zone of tolerance with regard to the services provided by the banks. The results with respect to gap analysis reveal that there was a shortfall in the service quality provided by the banks in the sample, with the largest gap being found in tangibles and empathy of service quality dimensions. The results of exploratory factor analysis reveal that the SERVQUAL model is found to be uni-dimensional in this study. The results, managerial implications, and future research implications are discussed in detail.     

The interrelationships among service quality,customer satisfaction,and customer loyalty: Examination of the fast-food industry

The purpose of this study was to use customers’ perspectives to develop a conceptual model for improving service quality and enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. The 197 samples were selected from customers of leading fast food franchise enterprises in Taiwan. The research results indicate that service quality positively influences customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Service quality positively influences customer loyalty through customer satisfaction. The research findings indicate that managers need to ensure they have efficient service quality to enhance customer satisfaction and customer loyalty levels.     

顾客心理受权与服务质量和满意感的实证研究

目前，大学生旅游已成为旅游业新的利润增长点，是旅游企业不可忽视的一个市场群体。通过在广州市的三所大学进行了一次实证研究，探讨了顾客心理受权的组成成分及其与服务质量和顾客满意感之间的关系。数据分析结果表明，顾客的消费能力、消费自主权、影响力是顾客心理受权的组成成分。顾客心理受权对服务质量和顾客满意感存在显著影响。     

The impact of buy-online-and-return-in-store channel integration on online and offline behavioral intentions: The role of offline store

Retailers have treated the buy-online-and-return-in-store (BORS) policy as an important initiative to reduce return losses and provide a better customer experience. Studies on BORS policy have primarily focused on the retailer's strategic value, but not on how such a seamlessly integrated omnichannel operation affects customer behavior. Using Chinese customer data and the structural equation model (SEM), we investigate how BORS channel integration impacts customer behavioral intentions, with the consideration of the mediating effect of customer satisfaction and the moderating effect of offline store characteristics. Based on the stimulus-organism-response framework, our research found that two dimensions of BORS channel integration (integrated return fulfillment and integrated customer service) positively impact customer satisfaction and subsequently impact behavioral intentions in different channels. Furthermore, offline store convenience moderates the relationship between integrated customer service and customer satisfaction. Product variety in the offline store moderates the relationship between customer satisfaction and offline behavioral intentions, while it is not statistically significant in the relationship between customer satisfaction and online behavioral intentions. Compared to the younger group, the older group who is satisfied with BORS service is more likely to purchase offline. These findings generate important theoretical and practical implications for omnichannel return operations.     

There is no dark side of customer aggression − It’s all dark

ABSTRACT

Customer mistreatment is a daily experience of service employees, with a considerable accumulating adverse impact reflected in distress, reduced performance and withdrawal. This paper builds on research addressing the universality of customer aggression and the I3 model which is used to explain aggression, to describe how the combined impact of norms of perfectionism and intensified customer–employee power differentials engender prevalent customer aggression. It is suggested that constant violation of unrealistic expectations threatens customers’ inflated sense of worth. Additionally, because service employees are prevented from both the ‘fight’ and the ‘fight’ reactions to customer aggression, social exchange in the service context does not involve any sanctions for customers. It is recommended that, similar to sexual harassment and organisational bullying, customer aggression should be addressed through legislation requiring organisations to protect their employees.     

Contactless but loyal customers: The roles of anxiety and sociability in the hotel service context

To move their businesses in a positive direction, service providers are increasingly adopting contactless technologies. However, the influence of contactless service (CS) on important customer outcomes has been ignored. This study formulated a research framework to investigate the roles of customer anxiety and sociability in the relationship between CS and customer loyalty in the hotel setting. The findings revealed that CS is positively related to customer loyalty. Pandemic-related customer anxiety helps transit the positive impact of CS on customer loyalty. However, customer sociability dampens the effects of CS on customer loyalty. More specifically, as customer sociability increases, the positive impact of CS on customer loyalty decreases directly and indirectly via customer anxiety. Our findings provide novel contributions to the emerging CS literature by disclosing the psychological mechanisms under the “contactless effect” and the potential theoretical boundary condition. In addition, the findings deliver practicable benefits to service managers in fighting the COVID-19 crisis.     

顷客心理受权与服务质量和满意感的实证研究

目前,大学生旅游已成为旅游业新的利润增长点,是旅游企业不可忽视的一个市场群体。通过在广州市的三所大学进行了一次实证研究,探讨了顾客心理受权的组成成分及其与服务质量和顾客满意感之间的关系。数据分析结果表明,顾客的消费能力、消费自主权、影响力是顾客心理受权的组成成分,顾客心理受权对服务质量和顾客满意感存在显著影响。     

Convenience and satisfaction: mediation of fairness and quality

This study investigates the role of service fairness and service quality in the relationship between service convenience types (decision, access, transaction, benefit and post-benefit) and customer satisfaction. Results show that service convenience has a significant positive impact on service fairness. Both service fairness and service quality mediate the relationship between service convenience and customer satisfaction. This study provides useful insights to both researchers and practitioners on the role of service convenience in improving service fairness, service quality and customer satisfaction. Findings of this study contribute to the literature by empirically investigating the impact of service convenience types on service fairness, service quality and customer satisfaction; and by examining the mediating role of service fairness and service quality between convenience types and customer satisfaction.