‘Street-level justifications’: Service providers mediating refugee reception in the urban context of Istanbul

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
AyŞen Üstübici
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Migrant Populations ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Displaced Populations ◽  
Street Level ◽  
Cultural Similarity ◽  
Level Analysis

Abstract This article discusses the mediating role of service providers between citizens and refugee reception policies. Based on an analysis of interviews with local government officials and NGO workers and observations in two districts of Istanbul, I examine the ‘street-level justifications’ that service providers use to counter anti-refugee resentments expressed by the citizens. The article suggests that as street-level bureaucrats endeavour to justify their work with refugees through three types discursive strategies; cultural similarity, call for empathy, and pragmatic explanations. Such strategies by constantly re-defining us and them, bear implications for social cohesion. The article offers a meso-level analysis of refugee reception policies in the Turkish context and highlights the limits of initial hospitality. The findings have wider implications for other contexts where the settlement of displaced or migrant populations is rather nascent, policies are top-down and where bureaucratic structures mediate among displaced populations, citizens, and the resources available to them.

The effects of cruise attributes on impulse buying behavior: the mediating role of impulsive buying tendency

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jookyung Kwon ◽  
Jiseon Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Impulse Buying ◽  
Buying Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Impulsive Buying ◽  
Positive Direct ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of cruise attributes on impulse buying of service customers through impulsive buying tendency. Specifically, this study investigates whether service attributes (variety of selection and price) influence the impulsive buying behavior of customers by stimulating their impulsive buying tendency. Design/methodology/approach Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesis using a sample of 143 cruise customers. Mediating analysis was conducted to examine whether customer personal traits (impulsivity) mediated the relationship between service attributes and impulsive buying behavior. Findings The findings showed that price attributions had a significant positive direct impact on impulsive buying tendency and behavior, while a variety of selections had a significant direct effect on impulse buying behavior. The results revealed a significant mediating role of impulsive buying tendency in the relationship between price attributions and impulse buying. Originality/value Although studies on the decision-making style of service customers have been widely discussed, a limited number of studies has examined customers’ impulsive buying behavior in the service sector. Considering the importance of impulsive purchasing as a valuable marketing tool, the results of this study can help service providers and researchers enhance their knowledge of the mechanism of impulse buying behavior.

The influence of personal motivation and environmental stimuli on customer participation and engagement behavior: the mediating role of experience evaluation

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-666
Author(s):  
Lingyun Guo ◽  
Xiayu Hu ◽  
Xuguang Wei ◽  
Xiaonan Cai
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Customer Participation ◽  
Customer Engagement ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Stimuli ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Personal Motivation ◽  
Engagement Behavior

Purpose This paper aims to help hosts or service providers of sharing economy-based accommodation (SEA) to attract new customers and retain existing customers by exploring the antecedents and outcomes of customers’ participation intention. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire-based empirical study was conducted to explore the proposed relationships in SEA. Partial least squares modeling with SmartPLS was used to estimate the model and interpret the results. Findings The study shows that personal factors (utilitarian and hedonic motivation) positively influence customers’ participation intention. The relationship between environmental stimuli (perceived information fit-to-task and perceived visual appeal) and participation intention is negatively moderated by hedonic motivation. Furthermore, the results suggest a positive effect of participation intention on customer engagement behavior and the partial mediating role of experience evaluation. Practical implications This paper provides industry practitioners of SEA with valuable insights on attracting new customers and retaining regular customers. First, they can distinguish customers in terms of motivation and provide information based on their requirements. Second, they can encourage customers to evaluate their experience and provide feedback, which would help in promoting the accommodation and service and building a long-term and harmonious relationship with the customers. Originality/value This study first investigates the interaction effect of personal motivation and environmental stimuli on participation intention in SEA. It further examines the influence of participation intention on customer engagement behavior and the mediating role of experience evaluation.

Cultural values and consumers’ expectations and perceptions of service encounter quality

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masoud Karami ◽  
Mohamad Mehdi Maleki ◽  
Alan J. Dubinsky
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of the study is to explore the impact of cultural values on perceptions of service encounter quality by examining the potentially mediating role of service encounter expectations. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was designed to collect data from 30 cosmetic clinic patients in Tehran, Iran. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the convergent and discriminant validity of the scales. Moreover, path modeling and bootstrapping were implemented using Smartpls 2.0 (M3) software to analyze the collected data and to assess the research model (Figure 1). Findings Cultural values have a significant impact on both expectations and perceptions of service encounter quality. Moreover, findings show that expectations of service encounter quality have an impact on perceptions of service encounter quality. The mediating role of service encounter expectations was confirmed. Research limitations/implications There are additional issues that should be addressed about different aspects of service encounters in developing countries. Moreover, subcultures provide attractive context for service quality perception research; subcultures comprise a large consumer market having its own cultural values that future research could examine. Practical implications Healthcare service providers should understand the cultural values of patients that may differ by social demographic characteristics. Providing a service that enhances patient cultural values might enhance success in the plastic surgery market, because such surgery may assist one in gaining recognition and improving their relationships with others. Clinic managers should consider Iran as a developing country, with its considerable young population having modern self-oriented demands, should be a desirable market for cosmetics and beauty care products. Originality/value Using the concept of Schwartz’s basic human values model to assess consumers’ cultural values and its impact on service encounter quality was the study’s main contribution. Moreover, it is among few studies conducted in the cosmetic surgery industry in a developing country’s context.

Mobile money usage and continuance intention among micro enterprises in an emerging market – the mediating role of agent credibility

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Odoom ◽  
John Paul Kosiba
Keyword(s):  
Small Businesses ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Continuance Intention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mobile Money ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Micro Enterprises

Purpose Currently, mobile payments have become pervasive in electronic commerce and are steadily increasing in many regions worldwide. In the literature, however, its continued usage among consumers is deemed equivocal, particularly among small businesses. This study uses the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to examine mobile money continuance intention among micro enterprises in an emerging/less-developed economy. This study aims to explore the mediating role of agent credibility on this relationship, given that these agents are contingent actors between service providers and mobile money users. Design/methodology/approach After a preliminary qualitative enquiry, quantitative data collected from 584 micro enterprises were tested from the UTAUT perspective, using structural equation modelling. Findings Findings from the study establish the applicability of the UTAUT in explaining the antecedents, motivations and continuance intention of mobile money usage among micro enterprises. Further, beyond their direct effects, the UTAUT conditions have indirect effects on the continuance intention through their effect on perceived agent credibility. Originality/value The findings provide evidence to issues of research and managerial interest, offering insightful implications to the academic and practitioner communities, respectively.

scholarly journals Public Service Logic: An Appropriate Recipe for Improving Serviceness in the Public Sector?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Mette Sønderskov ◽  
Rolf Rønning
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Street Level ◽  
Service Logic ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
Political Decisions

Researchers have made efforts to combine service management theory with public administration theory to develop an enhanced model of public service logic and help the public sector to develop services through co-creation with service users. This study considered the appropriateness of public service logic for improving serviceness in the public sector, examining the question through a literature review regarding the main elements of service management in which public service logic is anchored. We found no correspondences between this approach and theories on street-level bureaucracy, despite both perspectives aiming to understand the interactions between users and public service providers, and we wanted to explore this gap. We argue that public sector logic neglects important contextual factors, such as the role of public value and politics. Moreover, street-level bureaucrats have a legitimate responsibility not only to provide user-friendly services (creating value for users) but also, occasionally, to overrule citizens’ wishes and needs (following political decisions). We conclude that public service logic does not support the development of more serviceness in the public sector context, because it needs to consider the justification for having a public sector. Further research should consider users as collective citizens rather than individuals.

scholarly journals Relationship intention and satisfaction following service recovery: The mediating role of perceptions of service recovery in the cell phone industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 608-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Kruger ◽  
P Mostert ◽  
LT De Beer
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Cell Phone ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Complementary Role ◽  
Fierce Competition ◽  
The Relationship

In an industry characterised by fierce competition, cell phone network providers find it increasingly difficult to retain their customers after service failure. It is therefore essential for cell phone network providers to offer effective service recovery when they attempt to restore customer satisfaction following service failure. As it has been argued that relationships between customers and service providers should be considered a key determinant of the service recovery required to restore post-recovery attitudes and behavioural intentions, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between South African cell phone customers’ relationship intentions, their perceptions of service recovery and their satisfaction following service recovery. Personal in-home interviews were conducted to collect data from 605 cell phone customers residing in the Johannesburg metropolitan area. In addition to the significant positive relationships found between cell phone users’ relationship intentions, perceived service recovery and satisfaction after service recovery, this study found that perceived service recovery played a mediating role in the relationship between relationship intention and satisfaction following service recovery. The study concludes that, although a direct relationship exists between relationship intention and satisfaction following service recovery, perceived service recovery plays an additional indirect complementary role in this relationship. It is recommended that, in addition to focusing their relationship efforts on customers with relationship intentions, cell phone network providers also offer positively perceived service recovery to these customers, as this would lead to greater satisfaction following service recovery.

The Relationship between Tour Guide Humor and Tourists’ Behavior Intention: A Cross-Level Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (8) ◽  
pp. 1478-1492 ◽  
Author(s):  
HongWei Tu ◽  
WeiFeng Guo ◽  
XinNi Xiao ◽  
Ming Yan
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Tour Guide ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Behavior Intention ◽  
Indirect Relationship ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Level Analysis

This study investigated how tour guide humor could influence tourists’ behavioral intentions in tour groups. Drawing on affective events theory, we explored the mediating role of positive emotion and the moderating role of the personality trait of openness on the influence of tour guide humor on behavioral intentions. Data were collected from 888 tourists nested within 52 tour groups. Findings clearly indicated that tour guide humor influenced tourists’ behavioral intentions directly, and indirectly through positive emotion. Furthermore, tourists’ openness significantly moderated the effects of tour guide humor on tourists’ positive emotion. Specifically, tourists with low openness were more likely to experience positive emotion as a result of tour guide humor. Additionally, tourists’ openness weakened the indirect relationship between tour guide humor and tourists’ behavioral intentions through positive emotion.

Disclosing the bright side of SNs in the workplace

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Olfat ◽  
Gholam Ali Tabarsa ◽  
Sadra Ahmadi ◽  
Sajjad Shokouhyar
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Continuance Commitment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Bright Side

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to document that employees’ use of social networks (SNs) does not necessarily bring negative consequences and can indirectly benefit organizations and second, to compare the roles of public SNs and enterprise social networks (ESNs) in bringing benefits to organizations. Consequently, this study, on the basis of stimulus‒organism‒response theory, directly investigated and compared the roles of public SNs and ESNs in promoting employees’ organizational commitment from affective, normative, and continuance dimensions with regard to the mediating role of job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, 240 employees of Asia-Tech Company, one of the high-speed internet service providers in Iran, who had joined Skype for Business ESN, were included in this study. Partial least squares (PLS) method was used to examine the validity of the measurement and structural models. To this end, Warp-PLS software (version 5.0) was employed. Findings The results of the study suggested that public SNs have a positive impact on affective and normative commitment; however, no significant impact was observed for continuance commitment. ESNs directly affect none of the dimensions of organizational commitment. Although both types of SNs have impacts on job satisfaction, the greater impact was found for the public SNs. Job satisfaction also has a positive effect on all three dimensions of organizational commitment. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, no study has directly investigated and compared the roles of ESNs and public SNs in promoting organizational commitment from affective, continuance and normative dimensions with regard to the mediating role of job satisfaction. The most important theoretical contribution of the present research was to document that the employees’ use of SNs does not necessarily entail the waste of resources and has various advantages, such as strengthening organizational commitment (in affective, normative and continuance dimensions) and job satisfaction. In fact, this study disclosed the bright side of SNs in the workplace.

Expressing gratitude versus empathetic apology: which one is better to use as an initial recovery strategy after a service failure?

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-361
Author(s):  
Arash Ahmadi ◽  
Sohrab Fakhimi
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Recovery Strategies ◽  
Initial Recovery ◽  
High Level

PurposeThe main purpose of this work is to evaluate the different psychological impacts of two initial verbal recovery strategies (gratitude vs empathetic apology) on the consumers' loyalty after a service failure. The proposed theoretical model also appraises the mediating role of two emotional responses (consumer forgiveness, consumer anger) and consumer self-esteem and the moderating role of self-oriented perfectionism.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies (i.e. an experimental design and a field study) are considered for this investigation to assess the effectiveness of gratitude expression versus empathetic apology on post-recovery loyalty and test the effects of mediators and the moderator applied between the verbal recovery strategies and post-recovery loyalty.FindingsThe results of Study 1 revealed the supremacy of gratitude to empathetic apology in maintaining consumers' loyalty after service failure recovery. The better impact of gratitude expressed in increasing post-recovery loyalty is mediated through the elevation of consumers' forgiveness, the reduction of consumers' anger and consumers' self-esteem. The findings of Study 2 indicated that gratitude increases more post-recovery loyalty through individuals with a high level of self-oriented perfectionism.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could examine other service failure situations, different types of service recovery, mediators or moderators, which contribute to the service marketing literature.Practical implicationsAfter a service failure, using gratitude expressions to consumers often makes them feel better and more valuable.Originality/valueThis work increases service providers' knowledge in using proper expressions after a service failure to help elevate consumers' positive reactions resulting in maintaining their loyalty.

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