Impact of shared history on customers’ service evaluations

This paper investigates how shared history affects customers' cultural and personal values and impacts their perception of services’ responsiveness and satisfaction in a high-contact service setting (retail banking) from two countries with a shared history (France & Lebanon). Data were collected from 171 French and 141 Lebanese bank customers. Findings reveal that both cultural and personal values moderate the relationship between responsiveness and satisfaction, and that their impact is independent of each other. Further, findings show that in countries with a shared history, existing cultural models in literature may not be detailed enough to explain cross-cultural differences and similarities.     

Collaborative delay management towards demand-capacity balancing within User Driven Prioritisation Process

The concept of User Driven Prioritisation Process (UDPP) was introduced to give Airspace Users (AUs) more flexibility under demand-capacity imbalance. This paper presents two UDPP-DCB models, built on the UDPP principle, using the Selective Flight Protection (SFP) approach to minimize the total delay cost. AUs are enabled to adapt their operations in a more cost-efficient way in the presence of capacity constraints in airspace, optimizing their flights to keep the priorities track. Then, ATFM integrates the AUs’ decision to reassign the time slots and the preferred rerouting trajectories. Results suggest that the delay cost for AUs can be largely reduced through applying the UDPP-DCB models proposed in this paper, while allowing rerouting proves effective in reducing the system delay cost.     

Understanding homophily of service failure within the hotel guest cycle: Applying NLP-aspect-based sentiment analysis to the hospitality industry

Online complaints have become increasingly influential on the purchasing behavior of customers in recent years. In an effort analyze large quantities of textual complaints and detail the various aspects of them, Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis was looked to as an ideal framework to take on the task. This study set out to synthesize specific service failure items and categorize them into the groupings related to the hotel guest cycle and the corresponding operations, then compare the patterns of expression used by Asian and Non-Asian guests as the related their hotel experiences. A total of 390,236 online complaint terms posted about 353 hotels in the UK by hotel guests from 63 nations were manually derived from TripAdvisor for analysis. With consideration given to the homophily theory, we posited that Asian and non-Asian guests would exhibit similarities and differences with respect to the service failures they encountered when presented with various items of service. The results confirmed this as Asian guests were shown to encounter more service failures with respect to the engineering segment of operations (e.g. hotel room equipment issues), while non-Asian guests encountered more service failures on the housekeeping end of operations (e.g. toilets, public areas, cleanliness, and bedding). By organizing the failures according the four stages of the guest cycle, it was observed that approximately 80% of the service failures occurred during the occupancy period. This study contributes to the existing literature on hotel guest satisfaction both with respect to the methodology it uses and the new findings it presents on differences in perceptions of service failures members among different cultures.     

Between a rock and a hard place: Seizing the opportunity of demanding customers by means of frontline service behaviors

Service businesses are increasingly facing more demanding customers as a result of a shift in power from the service providers' side to the customers' side. Related literature predominantly examines the negative side of this ongoing trend, while overlooking the positive side. The major aim of this paper is to examine how frontline employees — investment account managers — deal with the ongoing increase in customer demandingness. To address this, we draw on adaptability performance theory to test the facilitating effect of frontline employees' post-transaction service behaviors (SBs) — diligence, inducements, information communication, sportsmanship, and empathy — as a means of adaptation to higher levels of customer demand. Findings indicate that frontline employees adapt most of their SBs' intensities to match customers' demands. The results show that some SBs actually increase the effectiveness and efficiency of frontline employees' service performance, leading to an increase in customer value and satisfaction. Customer value is found as a mediator in some of the relationships between SBs and customer satisfaction. Contrary to the conception of the negative outcomes of customer demandingness, service firms need to consider taking advantage of customer demandingness by stressing the role of frontline employees in adapting to customers’ demands.     

Key drivers of passengers' overall satisfaction at klia2 terminal

The purpose of this study is to examine the airport service quality dimensions based on the ASQ survey and investigate the best predictor for overall satisfaction. The context of this study is the klia2 terminal passengers, which are predominantly users of the low-cost carriers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Secondary data obtained from the airport operator on the 2016 ASQ survey for the klia2 terminal was analysed using the PLS-SEM method. The grouping and impact of the thirty-three service quality elements from the ASQ survey were tested against the overall satisfaction element. The findings indicated that twenty-two out of the thirty-three elements were valid measures for the klia2 terminal users which forms the eight dimensions i.e. access, airport environment, airport facilities, arrival services, check-in, finding your way, passport and security. Airport environment was found as the best predictor in determining passengers’ overall satisfaction at klia2 terminal and should be given particular focus by the airport operator for continuous improvements.     

Non-immersive virtual reality technologies in real estate: How customer experience drives attitudes toward properties and the service provider

Although previous research has highlighted that virtual reality (VR) technologies can enhance customer experience, the efficacy of VR technologies in real estate remains unclear. Therefore, this study examines the effects of offering consumers a non-immersive VR experience via a widely available technology, that allows them to view real estate products. Participants accessed the website of a real estate agency that presented apartments through either static photos or interactive 360° visits. The latter condition was associated with better “visiting” experiences and more positive attitudes toward both the products and the agency. This study highlights the advantages of such technologies in enhancing customer experience and attitudes, particularly in the highly competitive real estate industry.     

IMMEDIATE SETTLEMENT OR ENDURING A STRIKE: THE CHOICE OF SIGNALS

Some labour contract negotiations involve strikes while most conclude with immediate settlement. This article offers a model of union‐firm negotiation with private information to show that either strikes or immediate settlement will take place in the equilibrium. Different from most signalling literature where the signals are exogenously given, this article endogenizes the choice of signals. We compare two signals, the employment level and the strategic delay. We show that the low‐revenue firm will choose the signal which gives it higher payoff while separating itself from the high‐revenue firm.     

上海市交通拥堵成本测算及对策研究

依据美国德克萨斯运输学院交通拥挤外部成本的经典测算模型，将交通运输拥挤成本分为时间延误成本、额外燃油消耗成本、环境污染物排放成本和噪音成本三个方面，对于2015年上海市工作日高峰期交通拥挤的外部成本进行了详细的测算。结果表明，交通拥堵的外部成本约占当年上海市GDP的0.63%。最后，对于交通拥堵成本较高的现状提出了包括对上海市部分高度拥堵路段或区域收取拥堵费、大力发展上海市公共交通和发展交通快慢型出行方式共存在内的相关政策和建议。     

The development of service quality dimensions for internet service providers: Retaining customers of different usage patterns

This study examines the relationships among relevant service quality dimensions of Internet service providers (ISP) and their customers’ perceived value, trust and commitment. Data was collected from residential Internet users in Thailand. The final usable sample size was 1507. The analyses include segmenting ISPs’ customers on the basis of their usage pattern and evaluating their perceptions of Internet service quality dimensions. In addition, several alternatives models were compared using structural equation modelling to confirm the mediation effects. An ISP’s service quality is influenced by the following four dimensions (a) network quality, (b) customer service and technical support, (c) information quality and (d) security and privacy. The findings reveal that while all dimensions have positive effects on trust, only network quality, information support and privacy influence customer value significantly and information support is the only dimension which is directly related to commitment. Additionally, the effects of customer service and information support on value vary across customers of different Internet usage patterns. The contribution of the present paper stems from the simultaneous modelling of a range of mediation effects which can better help explain the impact of service quality dimensions on customers’ cognitive and affective evaluations in high-tech service settings.     

服务贸易:新常态下创新路径

服务业开放水平不高和贸易监管制度不健全已成为我国服务贸易发展的制约。在我国经济新常态下,应充分利用上海自由贸易试验区建设机遇,加快开放以计算机服务为重点的跨境交付、以专业服务业为主的商业存在和以职业资质互认为重点的自然人移动等领域,培育本土供应商和打造公共服务平台,完善服务贸易监管制度、促进制度和统计制度,推进区域拓展和主体拓展,实现我国服务贸易整体创新。