The moderating effects of gender roles on service emotional contagion

This study attempts to examine how service personnel's appearances, attitudes, and behaviours affect customers' emotions and thus their satisfaction and loyalty; it also considers gender roles an important moderator, in that customers with different gender roles may detect and feel differently when they are exposed to personnel's appearances, attitudes, and behaviours. Empirical data were collected from customers in clothing shops in Taiwan. The results suggest that customers with androgynous role more sensitive to the emotional contagion process. Managerial implications and future research directions are also discussed.     

Perceived product necessity,perceived value,customer satisfaction and affective attitude: an integrative model

ABSTRACT

Inter-relationships among perceived product necessity, perceived value, customer satisfaction and affective attitude are examined in Harare, Zimbabwe using structural equation modelling. The study provides evidence that perceived product necessity, perceived value and customer satisfaction each positively influences affective attitude. The findings also show that perceived product necessity has a positive effect on perceived value while perceived value has a positive effect on customer satisfaction. Lastly, the study reveals that perceived product necessity does not influence customer satisfaction. The research has implications for theory, managers and future researchers.     

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.     

Measuring customer pre-purchase satisfaction in a retail setting

Previous studies have addressed customer satisfaction as a post-purchase phenomenon. However, examining solely post-purchase satisfaction when investigating consumer satisfaction is incomplete because multiple stages are involved in the purchase decision making process. Thus, the purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to assess customer satisfaction in the pre-purchase stage using procedures for developing a reliable and valid scale, as proposed by Churchill [1979. A paradigm of developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16(1), 64–73.] and DeVellis [2003. Scale development: Theory and applications (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.]. Two sets of data were collected to carry out two stages of scale purification – 98 subjects participated in the first stage and 443 subjects participated in the second stage. The factor structures, reliability, and construct validity were tested to assess the properties of the final scale. Findings revealed a 21-item, 6-dimension scale measuring customers' pre-purchase satisfaction. Discussion of the results, managerial implications, study limitations, and suggestions for future research are presented.     

Social media's contribution to customer satisfaction with services

An important recent initiative in the effective transmission of healthcare services is the establishment of the patient-centered medicine (PCM) philosophy as a mechanism for enhancing customer satisfaction. Although the goals of PCM are important, there is less understanding of the means by which service providers can promote this philosophy.

This study examines the relationship between customers’ attitude toward and use of social media, PCM, and their satisfaction with healthcare services. Data were collected from a large, urban-based pediatric office in the northeast. The sample consisted of 234 respondents who were classified as ‘e-Patients’ – that is, they reported having access to the Internet and going online for health information. A three-stage regression analysis, conducted to establish the path coefficients for each stage in the model, shows that customers’ (patients’) attitude toward social media can be an effective method to enhance PCM and, ultimately, satisfaction. The findings contribute to theory in services by exploring the challenges of managing service delivery at the interface between customer satisfaction and the role and usefulness of adopting and effectively using social media.     

Cross-category variation in customer satisfaction and retention

Perceived quality, expectations, customer satisfaction, and effect of customer satisfaction on repurchase likelihood are found to be higher for products than for services, but repurchase likelihood for products is lower. Retailers have the highest repurchase likelihood and score lowest on the other variables. A set of relevant category characteristics is used to further understand variation in both the levels of these variables and their relationships. Quality, expectations, satisfaction, and satisfaction's effect on repurchase are higher — and repurchase likelihood is lower — when competition, differentiation, involvement, or experience is high and when switching costs, difficulty of standardization, or ease of evaluating quality is low.The author gratefully acknowledges the data provided through the funding of the Swedish Post Office and the support of the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan Business School. This research has benefitted from the comments of Claes Fornell, Michael D. Johnson, Donald R. Lehmann, Mary Sullivan, and participants in the Customer Satisfaction Workshop at the University of Michigan Business School.     

Sources of customer satisfaction with shopping malls: A comparative study of different customer segments

Abstract

In spite of the growing importance of planned, centrally managed and enclosed shopping centres in the retailing sector, the understanding concerning sources and outcomes of customer satisfaction with this kind of shopping malls is limited. This paper develops and validates a conceptualisation of shopping mall satisfaction based on field studies in Sweden. The results show that eight underlying factors of varying character are important to customer satisfaction. These are selection, atmosphere, convenience, sales people, refreshments, location, promotional activities and merchandising policy. Furthermore, this study investigates whether sources of satisfaction differ in importance with respect to gender and age, generally two important variables for retail segmentation.     

The role of customer satisfaction in enhancing customer loyalty in Malaysian Islamic banks

This study examines the role of customer satisfaction in enhancing the loyalty of Muslim and non-Muslim customers in the Malaysian Islamic banking industry. Respondents are the customers (Muslim and non-Muslim customers) visiting the bank counters and have an account with Islamic banks. A total of 660 questionnaires were distributed, and 440 were returned. The results indicate that customer satisfaction has a statistically significant positive effect on customer loyalty and intentions to switch for Muslim and non-Muslim customers. However, there were significant differences in the effects of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and intention to switch for Muslim and non-Muslim customers. The effect of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and intention to switch is greater for the non-Muslim than the Muslim customers.     

An empirical study into the influence of customer satisfaction on customer revenues

It is broadly expected that customer satisfaction (CS) influences customer revenues (CR), but there is little evidence for the corresponding hypothesis. If CS influences CR, there must be a relation between CS at time t?=?0 and CR at time t?>?0. We developed a statistical model representing this relation, which we tested in a longitudinal study using person-level data (N?=?1682) from a Dutch retail bank. We found that CS had a positive effect on CR with 1-year and 2-year time lags. These results support the hypothesis that CS influences CR.     

Do retail alliances enhance customer experience? Examining the relationship between alliance value and customer satisfaction with the alliance

Abstract

This article evaluates the role of customers in the alliance equation. Using a combination of survey and experimental data, we investigate the role of value offered by retail alliances on customer satisfaction with the alliance. We find that customer value plays a mediating role in the relationship between customer experience with the alliance and customer satisfaction with the alliance. Results also show that the nature of this relationship differs based on the type of value offered by the alliance. Cognitive processing plays a more significant role when the alliance is of a functional nature, while affect plays a more significant role when the retail alliance is of a hedonic nature.     

Relative importance and combined effects of attributes on customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction with a service experience is often determined by several critical attributes. Prior studies have suggested that food, physical environment, and employee service impose an important effect on diners' satisfaction with restaurant services. Although much research has looked at the direct effect of these attributes individually, little is known about them when they are considered together. This study investigates the relative importance and combined effects of the determinants of customer satisfaction in China's hospitality industry. The results show that food taste, employee service, and physical environment (in that order) all significantly contribute to diners' satisfaction, and that one attribute may substitute for another attribute in the satisfaction formation process. Generally, humanic attributes (employee service) can effectively substitute for less humanic attributes (physical environment).     

Jokes in the store and its effects on customer satisfaction

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of employee use of jokes embedded in face-to-face conversations with customers. Our main finding – derived from experiments in which employee use of jokes was manipulated – was that jokes reduced customer satisfaction. This reduction occurred regardless if jokes were related or unrelated to the employee’s overall message. Our results also indicate that the use of jokes had a negative impact on perceived message relevance, and that perceived relevance mediated the link between employee use of jokes and customer satisfaction. In addition, our results show that no joke usage vs. joke usage did not produce different emotional responses. This suggests that the impact of jokes on affect is attenuated when jokes are embedded in conversational content.     

The impacts of complaint efforts on customer satisfaction and loyalty

ABSTRACT

This study identifies the depth structure of customer complaint efforts and investigates the roles of each dimension in the structural relations with customer satisfaction and loyalty. Three dimensions of customer complaint efforts were identified, procedural effort, cognitive effort, and affective effort in the restaurant context. This study uses two subsamples to develop and validate the proposed three-dimension customer complaint efforts scale. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the first subsample of 211 participants. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied on the second subsample of 328 participants. It is found that customers’ physical/procedural and cognitive efforts exerted during the complaint resolution process compound their affective efforts, which further reduce customer satisfaction with the complaint process and erode customer behavioral and attitudinal loyalty. This study bridges the research gap gaps and provides managerial implications to help reduce customer complaint efforts and ensure positive customer behaviors.     

Relational benefits,their consequences,and customer membership types

The purpose of this research is to develop and test a theoretical model in which customer satisfaction mediates the relationship between a firm's relational benefits efforts (i.e. psychological, social, and special treatment benefits) and customer voluntary performance behaviors. Through a review of literature, a conceptual model was developed and then tested utilizing data collected from 522 hotel restaurant patrons. The results indicated that customer relational benefits influence customer voluntary behaviors, the impact of which is mediated by customer satisfaction. More importantly, it was found that the relationships among relational benefits, customer satisfaction, and customer voluntary performance differ depending on whether the surveyed customers had paid or free memberships with the companies in question. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed in the latter part of this article.     

Customer satisfaction and qualities in public service: an intermediary customer perspective

From an intermediary customer perspective, this study empirically investigates the causal relationships between service quality, relationship quality, design quality, and customer satisfaction in the public service value chain. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from social work, childcare, and healthcare services and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. It is found that all the quality dimensions are antecedents to customer satisfaction and relations between quality dimensions show distinctive patterns. The results show that relationship quality does not directly affect customer satisfaction, but can indirectly influence satisfaction through the mediation of both service and design qualities. The effect of the relationship and design qualities on customer satisfaction is stronger than that of service quality.     

Customer satisfaction and customer behavior: The differential role of brand and category expectations

Previous research has suggested that consumers use multiple strands to evaluate their satisfaction with a product and to establish postpurchase behavioral intention. However, prior empirical research has focused on which individual standard best predicts satisfaction. In contrast, this article develops and tests a model of consumer satisfaction and postpurchase behavioral intention in which consumers simultaneously use multiple standards—perceptions of performance, brand expectations, and category expectations. The results of an experiment for a simulated service encounter provide support for the proposition that consumers use multiple standards and that these standards have differential effects on such postpurchase outcomes as satisfaction, repurchase intention, and willingness to recommend. Brand expectations are shown to be better predictors of affective outcomes (such as satisfaction), while category expectations are shown to be better predictors of behavioral outcomes (repurchase and recommendation). Consistent with prior research, perceived performance is shown to have a strong effect on both satisfaction and behavioral intention.     

A perceived reliability-based customer satisfaction model in self-service technology

Technical reliability of self-service technologies (SSTs) has been found to be a strong determinant of satisfaction with tech-enabled services. Yet, the interpretation of the factors affecting reliability and its subsequent influences on customer satisfaction (CS) with SSTs is inadequate. The purpose of this investigation has, therefore, been to demarcate a model to fulfill the gap with an empirical examination, and accordingly a model was developed and tested by applying a global structural equation model. The model results of banking SST users specify how the reliability of SSTs is perceived by the users. The findings have reported that the best predictor of perceived reliability (PRe) is perceived security followed by perceived control. Surprisingly, no significant impact of perceived ease of use was found on PRe. The research also attempted to shed light on the influence of PRe on perceived risk, technology trust, and CS in the light of technology-enabled self-service.     

The impact of high-performance work systems in the health-care industry: employee reactions,service quality,customer satisfaction,and customer loyalty

The purpose of this study is to empirically test the effects of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on employee attitude, service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in health-care organisations. The proposed research model was tested using structural equation modelling for hypotheses, based on data collected from 196 pairs of employee–customer respondents in four selected hospitals with more than 500 beds. The results indicate that hospitals can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through efficient operations, employee engagement, and service quality. One of the key findings of our study is that HPWS in health-care organisations influence employee reaction and service quality.     

An examination of the congruence and incongruence between employee actual and customer perceived emotional labor

This study examines the effects of the congruence and incongruence between employee actual and customer perceived emotional labor on customer trust. Based on data collected from 510 service employee and customer dyads in restaurants, the results of response surface modeling indicate that customer trust is higher when employee deep acting and customer perceived deep acting are both high rather than both low. Customer trust is also higher when customer perceived deep acting is higher than employee actual deep acting rather than vice versa. The effects are different in surface acting: as employee surface acting and customer perceived surface acting increase, customer trust initially decreases, then increases, exhibiting a U‐shaped effect. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed.     

Relationships and impacts of service quality,perceived value,customer satisfaction,and image: an empirical study

In today's world of intense competition, satisfying customers is only the base line and may not be sufficient for survival. Management should focus on gaining customer loyalty by enhancing customer perceptions of service quality and increasing as perceived by the consumer value. Although previous studies have addressed the importance of service quality, satisfaction, perceived value, and image, the precise nature of the relationships that exist between these constructs and the understanding of their effect on customer behaviour still remains a key issue. This empirical study seeks to understand the relationships that exist between service quality and perceived value and how they impact customer satisfaction, corporate image, and behavioural intentions. The proposed model indicates that delivering high quality service and creating superior customer value can result in achieve high customer satisfaction, thus effecting the firm's corporate image, and ultimately leading to consumer retention.