FIPIA with information entropy: A new hybrid method to assess airline service quality

This study proposes “FIPIA with information entropy” as a new, hybrid method to assess airline service quality by identifying the most important priorities for airline passengers and producing recommendations to airline management for optimal resource allocation to improve service quality and customer satisfaction. The proposed method is an improvement over IPA, IPIA and FIPA methods, through the introduction of information entropy and fuzzy logic to the analysis of importance, performance and impact dimensions of airline service quality to improve interpretability and actionability of analysis results. This study also offers airline managers a list of what they should improve in resource allocation in order to increase service quality considering customer satisfaction and create value by managing the relational capital more effectively. The new hybrid method was field-tested by administering a 26-item questionnaire to passengers of a major airline operator, analyzing the responses using the Importance-Performance-Impact Analysis (IPIA) method, fuzzy logic and information entropy. The analysis revealed four main dimensions of airline service quality, namely reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness with 17 constituent attributes. The case study revealed that (1) resource allocation was adequate only on four attributes; (2) seven service quality attributes were identified as needing further management focus on resource allocation; (3) six service quality attributes received more resources than necessary which should be shifted to other attributes; (4) dimensions of reliability and tangibles needed more focus than others. The proposed hybrid method of FIPIA with information entropy can be employed for any industry where service quality depends on multiple attributes.     

社会化视角下接待业服务机器人对顾客体验的影响研究

随着人工智能和自动化技术日渐普及,服务机器人被越来越多地引入旅游接待业,但其应用尚处于探索阶段。在已有文献和理论基础上,本文依据互联网、社交媒体中接待业顾客对服务机器人的评价信息,以及对接待业顾客和员工进行深度访谈的数据,分析顾客对机器人服务的感知及体验。研究发现:(1)对机器人服务的感知涉及工具、社会化两个属性,社会化属性对顾客的愉悦体验产生重要影响;(2)服务机器人通过提升服务和营造愉悦氛围两条路径改善顾客体验。在此基础上,本文构建了服务机器人影响顾客体验的概念模型。本文从社会化视角探讨服务机器人的顾客体验感知,对服务机器人设计、服务场景管理和体验设计具有启示意义。     

Consumer relationship fading

This paper explores the phenomenon of consumer relationship fading with a series of three adjacent studies. Analyzing two longitudinal behavioral datasets, Study 1 shows that about one-third of the relationships could be described as fading. Drawing on prior work in the marriage disaffection literature, Study 2 defines relationship fading for the consumer marketing context as a process of gradual decline in consumers' intention to continue their relationship with a brand, generally manifested in negative feelings toward the brand, diminishing frequency and/or volume of transactions with it, and initiation of switching intentions. It further identifies disillusion, disaffection, and crossroads as three distinct fading stages, and outlines boundary conditions. Study 3 observes relationship fading through a diary study approach and finds attitude movement in both positive and negative directions between the stages. Further, while positive attitudes generally decline over the course of the fading trajectory, negative emotions peak at the penultimate fading stage and then level off at the final, crossroads stage. By defining and analyzing consumer relationship fading, we improve understanding of an under-researched, large segment of consumers.     

The mitigating effect of matching regulatory focus with arousal-inducing stimuli in service failure situations

Service failures are pivotal touchpoints that can reduce customer satisfaction, encourage negative word-of-mouth, and ultimately impact a firm's market share. We advance a novel perspective that after a service failure occurs, matching incidental arousal-inducing stimuli to one's regulatory orientation can make the negative experience stemming from the service failure less deleterious. In three experiments (two stock out scenarios and one involving a rude salesperson), after a service failure, promotion-focused and prevention-focused individuals were exposed to high versus low arousal-inducing stimuli. Three approaches available to retailers were used to manipulate arousal levels: background pictures (Study 1), colors (Study 2), and music (Study 3). When high (low) incidental arousal-inducing stimuli were presented to those with a promotion (prevention) focus, this raised satisfaction, loyalty, and referral for brands compared to when promotion (prevention)-focused individuals were exposed to low (high) arousal-inducing stimuli. Changes in self-rated arousal and affect valence levels (arousal and valence levels were measured after the service failure and then after exposure to the incidental arousal-inducing stimuli) mediated the effect on these consumer behaviors. These insights extend theory by considering the combined effect of regulatory focus and affect. They also have practical relevance.     

Laypeople roles at road traffic crash scenes: a systematic review

This study aimed to identify the roles of laypeople at road traffic injuries (RTIs). A systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The key words of ‘laypeople’, ‘layman’, ‘layperson’, ‘bystander’, ‘first responder’, ‘lay first responder’, ‘road traffic’, ‘road traffic injury’, ‘crash injury’, ‘crash scene’, ‘emergency’, ‘trauma care’, and ‘prehospital trauma care’ were used in combination with the Boolean operators OR and AND. We did electronic search on Google Scholar, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, CINAHL, Science Direct, Scopus, ProQuest. Based on the reviewed studies, some factors such as cultural conditions, knowledge, relief agencies, and demographic factors affect the interventions of laypeople at the crash scene in functional areas. Regarding the permanent presence of people at the crash scene, the present study can provide an opportunity to reduce different side effects of RTIs imposed on the society.     

Loyalty toward online food delivery service: the role of e-service quality and food quality

This study assesses the direct influence of food quality and e-service quality on customer loyalty toward online food delivery (OFD) service and its indirect influence through the mediation of customer satisfaction and perceived value. This study uses a survey of 405 OFD service customers from Bandung, Indonesia. By applying variance-based partial least squares to evaluate the proposed model, this study confirms the direct effect of food quality on online loyalty, but not e-service quality. Further, this study discloses the partial mediation role of customer satisfaction and perceived value on the relationship between both food quality and e-service quality on online loyalty toward OFD services.     

Multi-stakeholders’ assessment of bike sharing service quality based on DEMATEL–VIKOR method

ABSTRACT

Bike sharing is a sustainable mode of urban transportation. Assessing the perceived service quality is essential to improve the development of bike sharing. Most of the existing research evaluates the service quality of bike sharing only from the perspective of its users. This study assesses the perceived quality gap among four different stakeholders including government regulators, platform operators, bike association and users. First, an evaluation criteria system consisting of sixteen criteria obtained from the five dimensions of tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy is constructed based on a revised service performance model. Thereafter, a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making model that combines Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) with VIsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) is proposed. Then, the model is applied to evaluate the service quality of bike sharing in Xi’an City. Finally, some useful suggestions are given to improve the bike sharing service quality from the perspective of multi-stakeholders.     

Masterful Meisters? Voluntary Certification and Quality in the German Crafts Sector

Voluntary certification systems potentially reduce search costs in markets with imperfect information. Service markets with many heterogeneous firms – such as the crafts market – are prone to information imperfections and can therefore potentially benefit from such informational mechanisms. We examine if the Meister qualification in the German crafts sector improves service quality as perceived by consumers. We find a significant and positive relationship between the Meister title and consumer ratings and conclude that the certificate is a credible sign of quality.     

高新技术企业培育中知识产权服务的协同创新机制研究

高新技术企业培育中的知识产权服务是多要素的协同创新,对服务供给主体、服务内容、服务对象三大关键要素进行精准识别,认为应该在知识产权的供需之间、服务主体之间、公共服务和内部管理之间合作协同,传导为高新技术企业培育和成长的创新机制,以广州市的实践为样本,需进一步在供需协同的全链条服务、主体协同上政府对的资源撬动、内外协同的知识产权贯标上形成创新机制,有效发挥知识产权对现代化经济体系建设推动作用。     

Hook vs. hope: How to enhance customer engagement through gamification

Many digital service providers have adopted gamification to promote customer engagement. Critical questions, however, remain about the most effective way to enhance customer engagement and increase sales by applying gamification. With a research design that combines qualitative and quantitative methods, including the use of objective sales data from a large field study and replication of the findings across different contexts, this study explores how gamification fosters customer engagement. Both field study results and a simulation study reveal gamification principles (i.e., social interaction, sense of control, goals, progress tracking, rewards, and prompts) that promote hope and consequently increase customer engagement and digital sales. Furthermore, we find that hope is more strongly associated with customer engagement than the psychological condition of compulsion, which even exerts a negative impact. This research thus explores how gamification creates value for customers and provides actionable insights for managers to foster hope through gamification as opposed to get customers hooked.