Service recovery evaluations: GLBT versus hetero customers

Although Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) customers have been acknowledged as a growing market segment in the hospitality and tourism industry, our understanding with regard to their perceptions of service encounters barely exists. During service encounters, outcome quality and process quality are generally understood as being the two main components of service evaluations. Yet, two competing theories (fairness heuristic and two-factor theories) suggest opposite patterns of interaction effects of the two qualities. This study examines the effects of outcome and process qualities on GLBT and heterosexual customers’ evaluation of service recovery in a hotel setting. Our findings, based on 374 respondents, suggest that the effects of process quality are more pronounced when outcome quality is favorable, thus supporting the two-factor theory. Also, GLBT customers’ overall recovery evaluation is more positive than heterosexual customers’. Implications of these findings for service managers are discussed.     

服务失败后自我建构与质量预期对满意和口碑的影响

当顾客遭遇由个别雇员引发的服务失败时,顾客会产生怎样的心理反应?文章基于服务失败情境探讨了顾客的自我建构倾向与服务质量预期对满意度与负面口碑传播的影响。研究运用实验法模拟(餐厅)服务情境,结果发现,当服务失败源于个别雇员的不当行为时,如果顾客对企业的服务持有相对负面的质量预期,那么自我建构类型为互依型的顾客(vs.独立型自我建构)更倾向于认为企业对雇员的服务质量具有可控性,会对企业更不满意;但在负面口碑传播上,独立型自我建构的顾客却反而更有可能通过口碑传播服务失败经历(vs.互依型自我建构)。文章在此基础上主要讨论了自我建构对服务失败研究以及企业实践的启示,并指出未来可进一步研究的内容。     

Willingness to pay in negative restaurant service encounters

The aim of this research is to propose and test a comprehensive research model to understand the influence of food quality, service quality, ambiance, and value on consumer WTP in negative service encounters. Using DINESERV as the theoretical background, a mixed methodology (ANOVA and structural equation modeling) was utilized for the study using a between-subjects experimental design. Data was collected using an online survey from students (Study 1) as well as restaurant consumers (Study 2). The structural equation modeling provided evidence for the arguments that food quality, ambiance, and value are significant predictors of customer WTP in a negative restaurant service encounter. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.     

Generalizing the Encounter--Norm--Crowding Relationship

Theory predicts that when encounters exceed a visitor's norm for seeing others, crowding will increase. This article examines this relationship using data from 13 different studies ( n = 10,697) that included both high- and low-density study sites, and 12 different activities. Measures of recreation encounters asked respondents to indicate the number of people they remembered seeing in different contexts. Crowding was measured using a 9-point Likert scale. An indicator of the individual's tolerance norm was obtained by asking respondents to specify the highest number of encounters they would tolerate for a given situation. As hypothesized, perceived crowding was significantly higher for individuals indicating more encounters than their norm ( t = 12.70, p < .001). Overall, when the number of encounters was less than the norm, crowding scores averaged 2.02 (i.e., Not at all crowded). When encounters exceeded the norm, respondents felt "Slightly" to "Moderately" crowded with an average score of 4.01. Measures of effect size indicated that the strength of this relationship could be characterized as medium ( r > .3 to r < .5, n = 35 correlations) to large ( r S .5, n = 29 correlations). This pattern of findings was also observed for three predictor variables: type of resource (backcountry versus frontcountry); type of activity (e.g., canoers, hikers, hunters, anglers); and type of encounter (conflict versus no conflict). By contrasting identical measures of the same concepts across a number of activities, resources, and evaluation contexts, the generalizability of the hypothesized relationship is more readily apparent.     

Self-regulation and “other consumers” at service encounters: A sociometer perspective

Hospitality consumption often involves sharing the physical environment with other consumers. Other consumers can be either acquaintances a focal consumer shares the consumption experience with (co-consumption others) or strangers the focal consumer encounters due to serendipity (Customer Bs). This research used sociometer as a theoretical lens to examine the social dynamics among a focal consumer, co-consumption others and Customer Bs at service encounters and the impact of such social dynamics on consumer self-regulatory behavior. The results of the experimental study showed that when co-consumption others elicit higher level of need for self-monitoring, a focal consumer is more likely to regulate his/her interpersonal goal and emotions in response to the behavior of Customer Bs at service encounters. The results further suggested that while interpersonal goals do not have a significant effect on encounter satisfaction, emotion regulation positively contributes to encounter satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed.     

Restaurant servers’ perceptions of customer tipping intentions

Customer reactions to service encounters have been studied with surprisingly little emphasis on how servers’ perceive customers. If tips are an incentive to reward service then beliefs about consumers’ tipping habits may impact service delivery. An extensive survey of restaurant servers revealed that regular patrons and males were thought to be the best tippers; teenagers the worst. Females perceived males, African-Americans and foreign customers to be better tippers than did males; self reported tip income for males was greater than for females. Server ethnicity was not a factor. Systematic monitoring of these server perceptions may ensure more homogeneous service delivery.     

Emotional intelligence and adaptability – Service encounters between casino hosts and premium players

The premium player segment has been widely acknowledged as the largest single contributor to casino revenues. So-called casino hosts are an important influence on player perceptions of service quality and ultimately on loyalty and casino profitability in their capacity as service representatives servicing this segment. To date little research has investigated the relationship between casino hosts and premium players. This study focused on service encounters between casino hosts and premium players, particularly in the case of relationships between emotional intelligence, adaptability and the service performance of casino hosts. A mediation model involving these constructs was proposed and tested, drawing upon theory and the relationship that has been established between basic personality traits and surface traits. In the current study emotional intelligence was identified as a basic personality trait, and adaptability is viewed as a surface trait. The results arising from a structural equation analysis confirmed the validity of the mediation model and found that the inclusion of adaptability as a mediator into the relationship between emotional intelligence and service performance provided a greater proportion of variance than a model which excluded mediation. Based on the research findings implications for researchers and practitioners were outlined.     

Hotel Guests' Cumulative Satisfaction Updating Process in the Context of Service Failure and Service Recovery

ABSTRACT

Consumers constantly revise their satisfaction judgments as they gain new service experience. While some researchers found that consumers weigh their prior cumulative experience more heavily than their most current individual service encounters when updating their cumulative overall satisfaction, others found the opposite result. Following the development of the literature, this study investigated customers' satisfaction updating process in the context of service failure and service recovery in the hotel industry. The results of the data analysis show that when updating overall satisfaction, participants weighed their current service encounter satisfaction more heavily than prior cumulative overall satisfaction, regardless of different levels of service failure and service recovery. The findings of this research also suggest that once customers experience service problems, it is difficult to bring customers' satisfaction level back to where it was.     

Mega-Events and Conflict: The Case of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

This study investigated the conflict structure in the 2018 mega-event of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Conflict theory was used as the main theoretical underpinning of the mega-event. A survey was conducted to collect the data. The participants were individuals over the age of 20 who resided in Gangwon Province. This study analyzed the data using confirmatory factor analysis, a correlation matrix, and path analysis. The results suggested that conflicts were caused by negative perceptions of the impact of the mega-event. In addition, the conflicts could be classified into conflicts of interest and conflicts of values. This research demonstrated that the conflicts influenced residents’ negative attitudes. In particular, the strongest influences were exerted by environmental perceptions and conflicts of values. These results can be regarded as baseline data when staging events or establishing related policies, as they present specific information about the causes, types, and outcomes of conflicts.     

Subconscious influences on perceived cleanliness in hospitality settings

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now and for years to come, guests at hospitality venues will have heightened awareness with regard to formulating their perceptions of cleanliness. While perceived cleanliness has received attention in our existing body of literature, this conceptual paper integrates potential subconscious influencers on cleanliness perceptions into our understanding. Specifically, findings contained in various streams of research suggest that a number of factors can have subconscious influences on individuals’ perceptions of cleanliness in service environments. Such factors include the degree of lighting, the presence of plants / greenery, the shininess of surfaces, the use of ambient scents, the use of white bedding, and the presence of cleaning staff. Evidently, the sooner hospitality venues (particularly airlines, lodging operations, restaurants, and cruise ships) are perceived as clean and safe, the faster they will recover from the pandemic. As such, this paper is rich with both practical and research implications.     

Role interpretation during service encounters: A critical review of modern approaches to service quality management

This paper tries to place the notion of employee role interpretation within concerns for service quality. More specifically, it argues a case that dyadic analysis reveals that role reinterpretation is a process that can adversely affect service encounters when it takes place within the encounter. The paper addresses the issue of how relationships in personal service encounters deteriorate and explores this issue in the context of tourism and hospitality. The rationale for such an approach is acceptance of the limits of emotional labour and the lack of explanation in the literature for the variable results of normative managerial approaches to service quality. Role interpretation is seen as being distinctive form of coping outside the acting solutions of emotional labour and the purview of organisational culture as it is currently conceived. One consequence of arguing for the salience of role interpretation is a view of job satisfaction that places the concept of ‘job’ as being as important as that of satisfaction with it.     

Service encounter failure,negative destination emotion and behavioral intention: An experimental study of taxi service

The relationship between transportation and tourism has not been fully explored in tourist research. The effects of transportation services at destinations, particularly with service encounter failures, on tourists' perceptions of the destinations and their behavioral intentions have not been considered. We examine taxis, a main form of tourist transportation, and assess how tourists evaluate the service encounter failures. Our sample of 308 residents in Hong Kong participated in an online experiment with a 2 × 2 between-subject experimental design. The results indicated that both dishonesty and inhospitality were regarded as attributes of taxi service failures and can contribute to tourists' negative emotions regarding destinations. The negative emotions were found to be a strong predictor of tourists' negative behavioral intentions, including their intentions to post negative online reviews and not to revisit. The implications are also discussed about managing transportation services such as taxis for destination marketing and management.     

An Exploratory Examination of Service Quality Attributes in the Ecotourism Industry

This study explores service quality attributes of ecolodges in Australia. In-depth interviews were used to develop service quality dimensions that ecotourists believe to be of importance when visiting ecolodges. The performance-based measure of service quality (SERVPERF) was adapted as a generic measure of service quality in order to investigate whether the SERVPERF instrument is applicable to the ecolodge industry. Findings indicate that three additional dimensions are specific to the ecolodge sector: eco-friendly practices, eco-activities, and eco-learning. The findings are significant in assessing guests’ perceptions of service quality in the ecotourism area and can serve as a framework for further empirical research.     

When more pain is better: Role of need for uniqueness in service evaluations of observable service recovery

Service encounters may occur at public settings, providing an opportunity for other customers to observe a target customer’s experience, which, per se, may exert some social pressure on the target customer. However, this research argues that for some customers the observability of their encounters is an opportunity to satisfy their social needs. In particular, this research investigates the impact of consumer need for uniqueness on service evaluations of observable versus unobservable recovery encounters. Across three experimental studies, this research finds that following observable recovery encounters, consumer need for uniqueness enhances service evaluations. Findings also indicate that customers who appreciate uniqueness have similar reactions to an elaborate apology and high compensation. The results indicate that the observability of recovery efforts leads to lower perceived severity among customers high in need for uniqueness and thereby enhances their service evaluations. This research concludes with contributions, implications, limitations, and future research.     

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.     

The impact of online reviews on hotel booking intentions and perception of trust

A growing reliance on the Internet as an information source when making choices about tourism products raises the need for more research into electronic word of mouth. Within a hotel context, this study explores the role of four key factors that influence perceptions of trust and consumer choice. An experimental design is used to investigate four independent variables: the target of the review (core or interpersonal); overall valence of a set of reviews (positive or negative); framing of reviews (what comes first: negative or positive information); and whether or not a consumer generated numerical rating is provided together with the written text. Consumers seem to be more influenced by early negative information, especially when the overall set of reviews is negative. However, positively framed information together with numerical rating details increases both booking intentions and consumer trust. The results suggest that consumers tend to rely on easy-to-process information, when evaluating a hotel based upon reviews. Higher levels of trust are also evident when a positively framed set of reviews focused on interpersonal service.     

Service Quality Measurement and Triadic Interaction

Abstract

The authors recognise the importance of the service quality encounter and the critical roles played by three direct stakeholders: customers, front-line staff and operational managers, in the assessment of restaurant service quality. The paper therefore argues the merits of adopting a triadic perspective on restaurant service quality assessment and presents the details of a comparative analysis of stakeholder perceptions of service quality performance that was undertaken in three full-service restaurants in Manchester, U.K. The results showed that service providers tended to overrate the quality of service in full-service restaurants, if customer perceptions are used as the standard of comparison. Managers' ratings showed the least convergence with those of customers whilst there was a high degree of convergence between the perceptions of front-line service providers and customers on many of the dimensions. With the exception of the tangible dimension, there were statistically significant differences in service quality performance between the perceptions of stakeholders. Overall, the results have highlighted areas of particular concern and priority which require more in-depth research with qualitative methods; they therefore support the adoption of a triadic perspective in the assessment of restaurant service quality performance.     

游客间互动对再惠顾意愿的影响研究——基于游客体验的视角

同顾客与员工、顾客与服务环境之间的互动研究相比,服务接触中顾客间互动的研究明显匮乏,这也逐渐成为了服务接触理论进一步深化研究的关键领域。文章基于顾客体验的视角,构建并实证检验了游客间互动对游客再惠顾意愿影响的概念模型,发现了游客间互动的4个维度在影响游客体验价值各层面上存在的差异性以及体验价值的不同维度在游客间互动对再惠顾意愿影响中的不同中介作用：礼仪违背、友好交谈对情感性、认知性、社会性体验价值有显著影响,并间接影响游客的再惠顾意愿;一方面干扰和争执对功能性、情感性体验价值有显著的负向影响,建议与帮助对体验价值的4个维度有显著正向影响,进而间接影响游客的再惠顾意愿,另一方面干扰与争执对再惠顾意愿有直接的负向影响,建议与帮助对再惠顾意愿有直接正向影响作用。此外,有效辨识出各人口统计变量的不同水平对各研究变量影响的差异。这对于旅游企业开展良好的顾客关系管理具有重大的指导意义和价值。     

Same but Different: Chinese-American and Mainland Chinese Consumers’ Perceptions of and Behavior in a Service Failure Situation

Going beyond the traditional East/West consumer differentiation in studying service failure, this article examined the impact of acculturation, together with ethnicity of service staff and origin of a hotel brand on consumers’ perceptions and behavioral responses. The research drew on four focus groups conducted in Beijing with 34 participants, followed by an experiment for which data were collected from 451 Chinese-Americans and 464 Mainland Chinese. Results showed significant differences in perceptions and behavioral responses following a service failure between Chinese-Americans and Mainland Chinese, and among Chinese-Americans with different acculturation strategies. Implications of study findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Restaurant revenue management: Do perceived capacity scarcity and price differences matter?

Revenue management (RM) has become an indispensable strategic tool in capacity-constrained service industries whose total revenue often depends on the abilities of firms to use capacity efficiently. The restaurant business is similar enough to traditional RM industries such as hotels and airlines, but restaurants also have unique characteristics that pose special challenges to restaurant operators. Among the unique characteristics of restaurants are the relative flexibility of service capacity and the flexible duration of a meal, which are important subjects to be considered in the implementation of RM practices. In addition, when a restaurant operator practices a demand-based variable pricing policy to adjust demand, the magnitude of the price differences may influence fairness perceptions of the policy. Based on the commodity theory and the equity theory, this study hypothesizes that two main effects, namely, perceived scarcity of capacity in a restaurant and price differences, influence the perceived value of a restaurant's offerings and the fairness perceptions of a restaurant's RM practices. As hypothesized, the negative effects of price difference on fairness perceptions are supported by the results. However, findings suggest that perceived scarcity of capacity influences neither the perceived value of a restaurant's expected offering nor the fairness perceptions for a restaurant's RM practices.