Customer mistreatment and employee well-being: A daily diary study of recovery mechanisms for frontline restaurant employees in a hotel

Research on customer mistreatment towards frontline service employees in the hospitality industry has been steadily rising in recent years, but little is known about the mechanism underlying its detrimental impact on the non-work life of employees and why some of them could handle it effectively. By integrating conservation of resources theory with the stressor-detachment model, this daily diary study examined the effect of daily customer mistreatment on employees’ daily well-being at home (vigor and exhaustion) through daily psychological detachment. Employees’ recovery self-efficacy and the trait of resilience, which might mitigate the process were also examined. An experience sampling methodology was applied, and the survey data were gathered from 54 frontline restaurant employees conducted across 5 consecutive workdays. Results of hierarchical linear modeling supported all the hypotheses in this study. Our findings revealed a spillover effect of customer mistreatment and the importance of improving employees’ recovery in the hospitality context.     

Sexual harassment and proactive customer service performance: The roles of job engagement and sensitivity to interpersonal mistreatment

This study examines the relationship between sexual harassment (SH) and proactive customer service performance (PCSP) by focusing on the mediating role of job engagement and the moderating role of sensitivity to interpersonal mistreatment. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we propose that SH reduces job engagement and PCSP, and that individuals who are highly sensitive to interpersonal mistreatment are more vulnerable to SH. Using time-lagged data collected from 209 female employees of 18 hotels in China, we find that: (1) SH is negatively related to PCSP; (2) SH negatively affects PCSP via job engagement; and (3) sensitivity to interpersonal mistreatment strengthens the direct effect of SH on job engagement and its indirect effect on PCSP via job engagement.     

Workplace ostracism and proactive customer service performance: A conservation of resources perspective

This study tests the impact of workplace ostracism on hospitality employees’ proactive customer service performance (PCSP). Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, we investigate the effects of two sequential mediators (i.e. job tension and customer orientation) and the moderating effect of need for affiliation. Using a time-lagged research design and the data from 16 hotels in China, we find that workplace ostracism positively influences job tension; job tension decreases customer orientation, which in turn undermines employees’ PCSP. Moreover, we find that need for affiliation exacerbates the effect of workplace ostracism on job tension such that the effect is stronger when employees’ need for affiliation is high rather than low. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications subsequently.     

Customer emotions minute by minute: How guests experience different emotions within the same service environment

For years, the importance of customer emotions has been recognized in the service literature. Despite existing research, the discrete emotions generated by each service encounter within the theme park setting deserves more attention. The present research uses a quantitative research method to ascertain the various customer emotions experienced throughout the theme park experience using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Data was analyzed using multinomial logistic regression as well as correlation analysis. Results indicate that the emotions most likely to produce a satisfying theme park experience take place when enjoying rides, dining, and interacting with others. In contrast, the emotions generated while buying tickets were negatively associated with a satisfying theme park experience. Based on the results of this study, the authors provide a series of recommendations to generate positive emotions at key service encounters within the theme park experience.     

Hospitality service climate,employee service orientation,career aspiration and performance: A moderated mediation model

This study tested a moderated mediation model involving hospitality employees’ service climate perception, service orientation, career aspiration and service performance. Using a sample of 500 frontline service employees in ten restaurants of a hospitality chain company in China, the study found that employees’ service orientation partially mediated the relationship between service climate and self-reported/supervisor-reported service performance. Furthermore, career aspiration moderated the mediation effect of service orientation between service climate and self-reported service performance. However, such a moderating effect was not confirmed when service performance was measured by supervisors’ ratings. The study highlights the importance of employees’ service orientation and career aspiration in hospitality human resource management practices.     

Asymmetric relationship between attribute performance and customer satisfaction: A new perspective

The objectives of this study were two-fold. First, this inquiry attempted to provide additional support to the studies conceptualizing the relationship between attribute-level performance and overall satisfaction as non-linear or asymmetric. Second, the study aimed to provide an explanation to the observed asymmetry, thus addressing the gap in the previous research in the area. Asymmetric response of customer satisfaction to different types of attribute performance was tested and interactions between attributes were examined as an explanation for the observed asymmetry. Results of the study confirmed the non-linear nature of the customer satisfaction function. Moderating effects of attribute type explained the asymmetrical relationships between attribute performance and customer satisfaction, thereby providing theoretical rationalization to the observed, but often ignored, phenomenon.     

A novel framework for customer-driven service strategies: A case study of a restaurant chain

Importance–performance analysis (IPA) is a popular customer-driven tool that enables companies to understand market competition and identify improvement priorities for various attributes of products and services. Despite the widespread use of IPA, previous studies have identified specific deficiencies. For example, the managerial improvement directions derived from IPA are potentially misleading because they ignore the asymmetric and nonlinear relationships between attribute performance (AP) and customer satisfaction (CS). Furthermore, the relationship between AP and importance is erroneously assumed to be independent. By contrast, the Kano model offers useful insight into quality attributes based on the asymmetric and nonlinear relations between AP and CS. In this study, a customer-driven framework is proposed, integrating the advantages of traditional IPA and the Kano model to elucidate the market competition position of each service and product attribute, providing strategic improvement guidelines for managers to design service activities. By conducting a case study of a restaurant chain, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Negative affect,deep acting,and customer compensation as responses to customer mistreatment: The effect of customer-based perspective-taking

Customer service employees often deal with customer mistreatment, eliciting negative affect, which subsequently influences service performance. Using affective events theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) as the theoretical framework, perspective taking was examined as an intervention to influence negative affect elicited from customer mistreatment in two experiments. Study 1 examined and found that customer perspective taking led to less negative affect, and subsequently more customer compensation and more deep acting through serial mediation effects. Study 2 tested the moderating effect of the service failure locus of causality (i.e., hotel or customer). The most important theoretical contribution is understanding how having employees shift the focus away from their own emotions, towards why a customer is being rude or difficult, influences deep acting and customer compensation via reduced negative affect. This paper provides a promising intervention and training tool that hospitality organizations can use to influence employee service recovery strategies and customer service.     

The influences of transaction history and thank you statements in service recovery

A certain number of service failures are inevitable in the hotel business. In a scenario-based experiment, using an Internet-panel sample of 166 subjects, this study finds that: (1) those guests with a long transaction history are more satisfied with a recovery initiative and more willing to return than those with a short transaction history; (2) those guests who are thanked for voicing their complaints are more satisfied with the recovery initiative and more willing to return than those who do not receive a thank you statement; and (3) receiving a thank you statement while voicing a complaint might have a greater positive impact on the satisfaction of guests with short transaction histories than on guests with long transaction histories. The managerial and research implications of these findings are discussed.     

Empowerment in hospitality organizations: Customer orientation and organizational support

Although empowering employees has often been prescribed as an efficient strategy for hospitality organizations, the strategy alone cannot ensure success. Individual and organizational factors should be considered to increase employees’ perception of empowerment. This study examines the impact of employees’ customer orientation and organizational factors on the employee empowerment perceptions. Our findings, based on a survey of 203 guest contact employees, suggest that organizations should hire customer oriented people, guide them with service training, provide a reward system, and facilitate service standards communication in order to increase perceived empowerment. Implications of these findings for hospitality service managers are discussed.     

How and when servant leadership promotes service innovation: A moderated mediation model

Based on social learning theory, the current study examined how and when servant leadership could promote employee service innovative behavior (SIB) in the hospitality setting. Survey data collected from 1021 service employees and their 229 direct supervisors at 54 hotels showed that servant leadership was positively related to employee SIB, and employee customer orientation mediated such effect. Results also showed that employee age moderated the effect of servant leadership on customer orientation, as well as the indirect effect of servant leadership on SIB via customer orientation, such that these effects were stronger for younger employees. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Customer attributions of service failure and its impact on commitment in the airline industry: an emerging market perspective

The purpose of this study was to establish the impact of customer service failure attributions on customer commitment and the influence of service failure severity on recovery satisfaction. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and the hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The study revealed that service failure severity and attribution dimensions of stability and controllability influence recovery satisfaction. No relationship was established between locus of causality and recovery satisfaction. It was revealed that recovery satisfaction influences customer commitment and knowledge of alternatives moderates the relationship between the two. Service providers are recommedend to avoid preventable service failures.     

Other consumers in service encounters: A script theoretical perspective

Hospitality service consumptions often involve sharing the service environment with other consumers. Drawing upon the Script Theory, this research provides a theoretical perspective of consumer responses to behaviors of other consumers in service encounters. The results from an experimental study provide strong support for the dual-mode consumer responses (felt emotions and displayed emotions) and for the moderating effect of psychological closeness on consumer responses. Managerial implications for training, service management and service design in hospitality businesses are also discussed.     

Customer value in the hotel industry: What managers believe they deliver and what customer experience

Delivering value for customers has become a central theme in business. The paper examines customer value from two perspectives, i.e. that of service provider and that of the customer. A total 231 managers and 385 customers responded to the survey. The results indicate that managers’ perception of customer value is different to what customers’ experience as customer value. The differences persist across different classes of hotels. These results suggest there is a need to align management and customer perspectives to optimize customer value as delivered and experienced. Specifically, hotels should invest in customer understanding and customer linking activities.     

Understanding service experience and its impact on brand image in hospitality sector

This paper provides an understanding of customers’ common expectations and other important factors that enhance service experience during guest stay in the three selected four star rated hotels in Jammu, Chandigarh and Delhi, India. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from hotel managers and individual customers. Guest's attitudes, their expected and unexpected feedback in addition to analyzing the important information that helps in finding out particular areas critical to customer service quality are explored. Overall the results indicate that expectations of the guests and actual experiences are at disparity. Viable recommendations to the hotel owners in particular and the hospitality industry overall are made which are likely to improve customer's memorable experience.     

The impact of information technology on hotel operations,service management and transaction costs: A conceptual framework for full-service hotel firms

This paper develops a conceptual framework that describes the impact of information technology (IT) on service management and transaction costs in full service hotel firms. It details how IT would help such firms to lower operations-related transaction costs. Further, the underpinnings of how IT would impact service management in full service hotel firms is discussed more specifically from a customer satisfaction point of view while focusing on two aspects, i.e. managing customer delight and the customer's role as a co-producer. Propositions are developed and a discussion on the impact of IT on firm profitability from a transaction cost perspective ensues while concluding with managerial implications.     

The managerial implications of an analysis of tourist profiles and international hotel employee service attitude

Numerous studies indicate that customer satisfaction is closely related to hotel employees’ service attitude, and that distinct segments of a target tourist market require distinct customer service emphases. The enclosed study finds, for example, that Taiwanese tourists generally appreciate friendliness and enthusiasm, Japanese tourists admire courteousness and propriety, and American tourists value immediacy and efficiency. Marketers and personnel managers are therefore well advised to develop training strategies emphasizing empathy, gracious problem solving, and prompt individual attention for Taiwanese, Japanese, and American tourists, respectively. Importance–performance analysis (IPA) can be used to identify crucial aspects of appropriate service and recommend managerial strategies to support their implementation.     

Procedural justice,ethical climate and service outcomes in restaurants

The literature suggests that ethical climate may actually contribute to organizational success by enhancing employee performance. Ethical climate is considered to be highly relevant to the hospitality industry, since it enhances service-providers’ contact with customers. This study reinforces previous researches by exploring the relationships between ethical climate, service, and customer satisfaction in restaurants. We have also examined the relationship between ethical climate and the fair treatment of employees by an organization. The study was conducted in 20 restaurants, with 171 employees and 103 customers. Data were obtained from employees, customers, and “mystery shoppers”. As expected, ethical climate was found to be related to service performance which, in turn, was found to fully mediate the relationship of ethical climate with customer satisfaction. Ethical climate was also found to correlate positively with procedural justice. Our results indicate the benefits of the ethical message conveyed through consistent managerial practices in service organizations.     

A holistic view of the service experience at coffee franchises: A cross-cultural study

Service quality alone is no longer a sustainable advantage in today's competitive hospitality industry, and marketers are paying more attention to strategically managing the customer's experience. The purpose of this study is to examine the customer service experience from a holistic standpoint, and further consider how different components of the customer service experience influence perceived value, attitudes, and loyalty at coffee franchises. Further, this study conducts a comparative analysis to find the similarities and differences that exist cross-culturally between Americans and Koreans. This study develops a self-administered questionnaire for data collection: we adopt a convenience sampling method and collected data at two Starbucks franchises and two Coffee Bean franchises in both Seoul, South Korea, and Miami, US. Further, the study implements structural equational modeling to analyze the data. Overall, the results support the study hypotheses, and indicate that nationality has a moderating effect on the relation between the latent variables.     

Quality function deployment: An extended framework for service quality and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry

Research on service quality and customer satisfaction has become significant in the hospitality industry. Nonetheless, most previously proposed or introduced research paradigms have focused exclusively on customers without equally emphasizing the intra-organizational service generation and delivery processes. In contrast, this study considers both external and internal service management issues and subsequent service innovations based on the framework of Quality Function Deployment (QFD). QFD and its relationship to similar concepts are explained. Next, this study provides an overview of the QFD process and develops a hypothetical application in the lodging industry in order to illustrate future application and analysis strategies. Some benefits and disadvantages of the QFD process are discussed as compared to extant service quality and customer satisfaction paradigms. Finally, suggestions and directions are offered for future applications, with particular interest in hospitality-specific service management issues.