Performance-only measures vs. performance-expectation measures of service quality

There is a long debate over the superiority of performance-only measures vs. performance-expectation measures of service quality. This paper analytically derives the superiority conditions of the measures in predicting customer satisfaction. The conditions show that the superiority of the measures is determined by two factors. One is the strengths of linkages between the constructs (expectation, performance, and customer satisfaction) in the customer satisfaction formation process, and the other is customer heterogeneity in the evaluation of constructs in the process. The source of customer heterogeneity implies that the superiority is affected by the procedure for measuring service quality because the degree of customer heterogeneity in the evaluation of perceived and expected service quality may vary according to the measurement procedure.     

基于顾客满意度的企业业务流程优化模型研究

顾客满意度已经成为评价企业经营绩效的重要指标。依据顾客满意度来再造企业内部的经营管理是企业界面临的迫切问题。质量功能展开,也称为质量屋,能够将顾客满意度与企业运营过程的优化系统结合,是一种有效的企业过程优化方法。以质量屋为基本原理,确定基本因素,采用分层序列法构建基于顾客满意度的业务流程优化模型,不失为一种科学有效的企业过程优化方法。     

Understanding organization-customer links in a service setting in Russia

This study examines the effect of management commitment to service quality on customer satisfaction through the mediating links of service climate and core and relational service performance in a high-power distance culture. Data were collected using a survey distributed to the FLEs and customers of branches of a Russian retail bank. Study findings demonstrate that branch service climate mediates the management commitment to service quality – service performance relationship and that this indirect effect is stronger on core service performance relative to relational service performance. Contrary to expectations, our findings demonstrate the importance of relational service performance relative to core service performance as a mediator of the branch service climate – branch customer satisfaction relationship. Implications of these novel findings and future research directions are discussed.     

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。     

Affective States of the Consumer and Satisfaction with Services in the Airline Industry

Abstract

While its importance in marketing is never questioned, customer satisfaction has rightly been described as “a complex and elusive phenomenon.” The search continues for factors/variables that determine its presence and magnitude. This paper examines the affective aspect of customer satisfaction in the globally important, but highly competitive airline industry. Two major forms of affective state of the consumer are examined, namely: (i) mood, and (ii) quality of life. Findings show that both tend to have significant influence on the level of satisfaction with services in the airline industry. However, some elementary services tend to be more influenced than others by these affective states of the consumer. Implications, and managerial applications of the findings for augmenting customer satisfaction in the airline industry are discussed.     

Antecedents of customer loyalty: An empirical synthesis and reexamination

Despite the importance of customer loyalty, no comprehensive, empirical work has attempted to assess the general findings across academic studies. The study intends to fill that void by conducting a meta-analysis of empirical findings on the predictors of customer loyalty. Although findings of this study support all the hypothesized main effects, they indicate stronger effect size for trust than for other determinants of loyalty. The study also tests the robustness of previous findings across various research and measurement contexts. The analysis of moderating effects reveals several interesting findings. For instance, attitudinal loyalty measures seem to be a plausible surrogate for behavioral loyalty measures. The effects of customer satisfaction and trust on loyalty are less prominent when products are purchased on a regular and relatively short (as opposed to an irregular and relatively long) purchase cycle. Factors that largely relate to product performance (e.g., satisfaction, quality) have a weaker impact on loyalty in B2B than in B2C settings. Some relationships (e.g., the effect of quality on loyalty) become stronger over time. Furthermore, our results detect consistently weaker effects from studies using single-item (relative to multi-item) loyalty measures.     

Vertical performance management: Strategic implications for financial service

This paper examines the relationship between productivity and customer satisfaction in marketing consumer services. It presents a conceptual framework that highlights four dimensions of productivity measurement: capacity, perceived quality, profitability, and satisfaction. One of the more distinctive aspects of this presentation is its analysis of productivity from the dual perspectives of both the customer and the service provider. A preliminary formulation of the productivity model emphasizes the high degree of interaction between the evaluation of performance from these two perspectives. A recent service innovation in the area of electronic funds transfer illustrates this framework.     

eTailQ: dimensionalizing, measuring and predicting etail quality

Quality is related to customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty in both product and services settings. Thus, quality is expected to be a determinant of online retailer success as well. Based on online and offline focus groups, a sorting task, and an online survey of a customer panel, the authors establish the dimensions of the etail experience, and develop a reliable and valid scale for the measurement of etail quality. The analysis suggests that four factors—website design, fulfillment/reliability, privacy/security and customer service—are strongly predictive of customer judgments of quality and satisfaction, customer loyalty and attitudes toward the website.     

Predictors of relationship quality for luxury restaurants

Relationship quality is increasingly emerging as a strategy for organizations that strive to retain loyal and satisfied customers in today's highly competitive environment. However, a limited number of studies have investigated relationship quality within the hospitality industry. This study examines and applies a measurement model originally tested with Korean customers to American customers to confirm that the predictors of relationship quality for luxury restaurants are cross-culturally valid. This study also examines the relative importance of each predictor of relationship quality, and identifies strategies for luxury restaurants that should enhance their level of customer trust and satisfaction.     

Receiving,Recording, and Responding to Customer Complaints: The Effects of Formalizing Customer Complaint Handling Policies in Retail Firms

ABSTRACT

Given the critical need for retail firms to provide high quality customer service and satisfaction, this article investigates the importance of formalizing customer complaint handling policies and procedures with regard to its relationship to the ways in which retail companies receive, record, and respond to customer complaints. A survey of 184 firms from the retail environment of a midsized community reveals that the existence of such formalized procedures is significantly associated with firm size, better channels of communication with customers, mechanisms of recording customer feedback, and better-trained employees, which have been shown to relate to higher firm performance.     

Client Perceptions of the Customer Orientation of Advertising Agencies

Abstract

A national random sample of advertisers evaluated the customer orientation of their advertising agencies. The respondents also rated the importance of various agency attributes for agency selection, as well as their level of satisfaction with the performance of their current advertising agencies. Client perceptions of the customer orientation of advertising agencies was found to be significantly related to clients' satisfaction with agency performance. The importance of customer oriented selling behaviors by advertising agencies 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.     

Customer satisfaction and consumer expenditure in selected European countries

The relationship between customer satisfaction and company performance has been extensively researched at both the consumer and firm levels. However, little is known about the impact of customer satisfaction at the economy-wide level, especially in Europe. This study aims to link customer satisfaction to personal consumption expenditure using panel data collected from 1999 to 2011 and covering nine European countries. Our findings suggest a significant relationship between customer satisfaction and consumer expenditure in these countries. In addition, economic structure, culture, political economy and socio-economic factors have been examined to understand the impact of cross-country differences on this relationship. The results reflect the importance of satisfied consumers on the economy as a whole; thus, efforts at boosting customer satisfaction should become a national agenda.     

Investigating the importance and cognitive satisfaction attributes of service quality in restaurant business - a case study of TASTy steakhouse in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

In this research, we proposed an effective approach to investigate the importance and satisfaction attributes of service quality of a restaurant business. For understanding the gaps of service quality cognition between consumers and servers, our work can be used as a reference for helping restaurants improve their service quality and reuse their resources effectively. We applied DINESERV scales and five-point Likert scales as quantitative research tools. The Kano model, customer satisfaction index, regression analysis, improvement effort index, and importance-performance analysis (IPA) were applied as measurement tools to examine the importance of various service attributes. Our approach was implemented in a famous restaurant in Taiwan: TASTy Steakhouse. The relative priority of service quality attributes for improving this chain restaurant and its competitiveness are ranked and discussed.     

Economic influences on perceived value,quality expectations and customer satisfaction

Consumer research has extensively analysed psychological determinants of customer satisfaction. As macro‐level customer satisfaction data were not available until recently, researchers have only taken first steps towards analysing economic determinants of customer satisfaction. Based on a more complex conceptual framework and on data from Germany and Japan, this article examines how economic processes influence the perceived value of goods and services, quality expectations and customer satisfaction. Using principal component analysis, regression analysis and structural equation modelling, this study finds that perceived value is positively influenced by both economic growth and lagged economic expectations. Customer satisfaction is positively influenced by economic growth and negatively by current economic expectations, with half of the impact mediated by perceived value. Economic expectations positively influence expectations regarding the quality of goods and services. These results imply that consumer researchers should no longer ignore economic influences on consumer attitudes. Marketing managers are advised to be cautious not to misinterpret economic‐induced variations in customer satisfaction as caused by corporate performance.     

Competitiveness vis-à-vis service quality as drivers of customer loyalty mediated by perceptions of regulation and stability in steady and volatile markets

The purpose of this research is to investigate predictors of customer loyalty in order to identify alternatives to customer satisfaction with service quality, which has been traditionally accepted as the primary predictor of customer loyalty, particularly for services. A stratified sample of bank customers was surveyed to collect information on customer perceptions and behaviors in relation to satisfaction with service quality, competitiveness, risk, regulation, stability and loyalty. Partial least squares path modelling (PLSPM) was applied to develop loyalty models for a steady market (Australia) and a volatile market (Greece). This study's empirical findings support theoretical arguments for the inclusion of customer perceptions of competitiveness in loyalty modelling. Perceptions of regulation and stability intervene in the relationship between drivers of loyalty and loyalty itself. For bankers, the study emphasizes the need to move away from customer satisfaction with service quality to explain customer loyalty, towards focusing efforts on achieving relative superiority in competitiveness, namely competitive productivity and products. Profiling customers based on their perceptions of a bank's competitiveness can provide additional explanatory power beyond traditional satisfaction based loyalty models. Services marketing has focused on the service components, and there is no doubt about its crucial role. But given this focus, other factors, such as the actual product component, have been somewhat overlooked in services research. The study makes a unique contribution to understanding and modelling customer loyalty by demonstrating the importance of the inclusion of customer perceptions of other factors as appropriate to market conditions.     

Value and Satisfaction Evaluations During a Service Relationship

Abstract

The research used a sample of credit union customers to determine (a) the relative importance of core and peripheral service attributes on customer evaluations of service value and customer satisfaction, and (b) how the relative importance of these criteria change over the life of the service relationship. For the overall sample, peripheral service attributes accounted for over three-fourths of the variance for service value and customer satisfaction. Dividing the sample into three sub-samples based on age of the customer's relationship with the credit union, peripheral service attributes drove evaluations of service value and customer satisfaction for the first stage of the relationship (ten years or less) and the middle stage of the relationship (eleven to nineteen years). Once the relationship aged to twenty or more years, core attributes drove evaluations of service value and customer satisfaction. Findings indicate that relationship strategies for the credit union may need to be customized based on the amount of time customers have had a relationship with a service firm.     

The Carryover Effect of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality Focused on Moderating Effect of Customer Trust and Cooperative Orientation

The current study is intended to provide a novel contribution in regards to the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction by focusing on carryover effects of satisfaction judgment on perceived service quality of the subsequent transaction. In addition, we probe the role of customer trust in the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality. The results indicate a cycle of customer satisfaction and perceived quality over time, which validates the concept of cycle of satisfaction. The results also indicate trust toward a service provider has a moderating role on the relationship between customer satisfaction and perceived service quality.     

消费情感对顾客服务经历评价的作用机理研究

日常管理实践可以注意到,顾客在消费过程中的情感状态会影响他们在服务完成后对服务的评价水平.但是这一管理事实在学术研究上长期未能引起足够的重视:以往关于服务质量和顾客满意度的研究本质上几乎都是基于认知的,情感的作用被忽视或低估.以商业银行服务为背景,本研究以问卷调查为实证工具,同时考察认知和情感因素在顾客服务后评价形成过程中的作用.研究结果显示,顾客消费情感与顾客认知显著相关,并且与顾客认知共同显著影响着整体服务质量评价和顾客满意.同时,顾客的情感状态可以划分为积极情感与消极情感,二者对顾客的服务经历评价也表现出了不同的影响作用.文章最后给出了该领域进一步研究的方向.