Suchergebnisse

Studies modeling customer satisfaction have often produced conflicting findings, prompting some scholars to suggest that satisfaction may vary under different product and situational conditions. This longitudinal study of business-to-business professional services (management consulting services) examines the moderating effects of two individual-level variables (product-norm experience and stakeholding) and one purchase situation variable (perceived product complexity) on the relationships among perceived performance, disconfirmation of expectations, and satisfaction. The results indicate that the relative impact of performance and disconfirmation on satisfaction varies under different contingency conditions. The impact of experience as a moderator variable is especially noteworthy. When considered in light of previous research results, the current results suggest a nonmonotomic relationship between disconfirmation and satisfaction under differing experience conditions. The findings add new insight to our understanding of the contingent relationships among key constructs in satisfaction evaluation, especially in a business-to-business professional services setting.

The purpose of this study is to empirically test and extend our knowledge of the determinants of customer-oriented behaviour of front-line employees across a range of service settings. We examine the need for front-line employees to be both 'willing' (engaged) and 'able' (confidence in their ability) in order to deliver high-quality customer service. Since the organisational environment in which workers operate is known to impact job performance, we include service climate as a third explanatory variable in our model. The research hypotheses are tested using self-report data collected from 878 front-line employees in four service industries, covering both medium and high-contact settings. The results support the notion that to deliver excellent customer service, employees must be both 'willing' (engaged, positive attitude) and 'able' (possess the capability, or at least the confidence, to do so). In addition, service climate (an organisation environment factor), employee demographics, and industry type were found to be significant. Finally, the interaction effects of being 'willing' and 'able' are significant in explaining customer-oriented behaviour of front-line employees.

As in other social exchanges, cultural norms and values are likely to influence customers' perceptions of fairness and satisfaction with the service recovery process. This study contrasts the impact of two recovery attributes (compensation and explanation) on customers' postrecovery perceptions in a cross-cultural context (East-Asia versus United States). The results from this experimental study indicate that compensation seems to drive customers' fairness perceptions, in particular with American consumers. Offering an explanation for the failure had a positive impact on customer perceptions regardless of the customer's cultural orientation. Finally, the study's findings show that perceived fairness is directly linked to postrecovery satisfaction.

Frontline employees in traditional customer service units are under increasing pressure to pursue the twin goals of providing quality service while achieving productivity gains by meeting increased sales targets—that is, being service-sales ambidextrous. Drawing from literature on organizational ambidexterity, this study explores forces that facilitate the conversion from a service-only environment to one that emphasizes both sales and service behavior. With a sample of more than 2,306 frontline employees in 267 bank branches, this study examines the impact of contextual variables on service-sales ambidexterity from a multilevel perspective. It then explores the consequences by analyzing objective financial data at the retail branch level, which reveal a significant relationship between ambidexterity and financial performance. Empowerment and transformational leadership are positively associated with service-sales ambidexterity at individual and branch levels; team support is associated with ambidexterity only at the individual employee level. Managers thus should let service workers exercise their own judgment when deciding when or what to up- or cross-sell. The delegation of authority works best for branch office veterans whose service excellence and selling both are recognized and rewarded.

Unlike prior research that has confined customer rage to a single point in time, this article explores the unfolding of rage over three time periods, at the initial service failure (Episode 1) and two ineffective service recovery attempts (Episodes 2 and 3). In each episode, we examine the association between loss, or a threat of loss, of personal resources (e.g., self-esteem, sense of justice, sense of control, and economic resources such as time and money) and negative emotions. We empirically demonstrate for the first time that although rage may sometimes take place at the initial service failure (Episode 1), rage does not tend to be an immediate reaction. Rather, it is when service failures remain unresolved that residual negative emotions are carried forward into the next episode, so that rage is dominant in Episodes 2 and 3. This carryover of negative emotion spirals with more resources being threatened, propelling the customer into rage. The authors offer a methodological contribution demonstrating the dynamic nature of appraisals and emotions in a sequence of related episodes in the elicitation of rage. Finally, differences between U.S. and Thai responses are discussed with important theoretical and managerial implications.

Using data collected from 302 firms spanning a wide range of industry sectors, tests a model designed to explain the decision of whether to use or not to use an outside technical consultant when purchasing a big‐ticket, high technology product in the information technology area. The results indicate that different categories of variables influence the decision to include or not to include an outside technical consultant in the buying center. In order to assess the degree of convergent validity in our findings, a second model was tested using a somewhat different, but nonetheless related dependent measure, namely the extent of the consultants' involvement across eight buying stages. Overall, the model testing results provide good support for the majority of the hypothesized relationships, especially those related to the buyer's access to external networks, product class knowledge, and technical/administrative role. A major finding is that 28 percent of firms in our sample engaged an outside consultant to help them make the purchasing decision. Analysis of the consultants' extent of participation in these purchasing decisions indicates that they had high involvement in seven of the eight buying stages. Though the consultants were found to have least involvement in the final stage of the buying process, i.e. the selection of the preferred supplier, it seems reasonable to expect that they are key influencers in this final stage as they had a significant effect on shaping all the preceding buying stages.

There is compelling evidence that incidents of customer rage are on the rise and not just in Western, individualistic societies. Changing social and economic conditions in collectivist societies (e.g., emerging consumerism and rising wealth in China) have spawned the emergence of customer rage in Eastern countries. To this end, we examine how customer rage–associated emotions, expressions, and outcomes differ across Eastern and Western cultures. Results drawn from 982 frontline service customers from two Eastern (China and Thailand) and two Western (Australia and United States) countries show that although consumers from Western cultures are more likely to exhibit rage emotions, consumers from Eastern cultures are more likely to report a desire for revenge and express their emotions in both overt and more subtle ways. That is, customers from Eastern cultures, while slow to display anger, once initiated, their rage expressions toward frontline service workers tend to be physical and vengeful. This result contradicts generally held beliefs that Eastern consumers are reticent to express negative emotions. With these findings in mind, and to minimize damaging customer rage incidents, firms regularly engaged in cross-cultural service encounters need to provide intercultural awareness and communications training that equip frontline employees to understand customs, manners, etiquette, and expectations of Eastern and Western cultures in general and even specific cultural segments.