A quality system’s impact on the service experience

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 1817-1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery Smith ◽  
Sidney Anderson ◽  
Gavin Fox

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay between technical and social systems within an organization that potentially affect the service experience, as perceived by end customers. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the potential impact of an integrated service quality system on the service experience. A conceptual model is presented, accompanied by a detailed development of the hypotheses. Two samples (Study 1: n=474, Study 2: n=225) of consumers are used to empirically test the proposed model. Findings The analysis reveals the impact a technical system has on employees’ inherent abilities (i.e. the social system), which, in turn, affect the overall assessment by customers. Additionally, the situation in which an employee works (i.e. operating environmental conditions) results in differences in the model. Research limitations/implications This paper’s main implication is this paper employs established theory to develop a model that is empirically tested to show that implementing and maintaining a quality-oriented service system can positively influence the overall customer experience. The limitations are based primarily on the methodology in which individual employees assessed all aspects of both the social and technical systems. Practical implications Managers should be diligent in their design and implementation of the quality components as these affect the work setting in which employees operate. Originality/value Prior research has neither explored an integrated service quality system’s impact on the service experience nor employed an established theoretical framework. This work accomplishes both with the results providing contributions to both theory and practice.

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maher Georges Elmashhara ◽  
Ana Maria Soares

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by emotional states in the relationship between entertainment and social interaction with salespeople and shopper satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The proposed model was tested using a survey-based study, with a sample size of 318 mall shoppers. Findings The results indicate that pleasure and dominance are mediators in the relationship between entertainment and social interaction with salespeople and mall shopper satisfaction. Moreover, regarding the direct relations, entertainment directly influences satisfaction, while social interaction does not. Practical implications The results have practical implications for mall managers and mall developers. Specifically, entertainment can be used to attract shoppers and to enhance their satisfaction with the overall shopping experience. Practical suggestions to this end are offered. Originality/value This study’s contribution is twofold: first, this study adds to research by addressing the gap in research regarding shopper emotional states. Specifically, it addresses the mediating role played by emotional states of shoppers on the impact of entertainment and social interaction in satisfaction. Second, the study concentrates on the role of salespeople by focusing on the social aspects of the interaction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 385-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willemijn van Dolen ◽  
Charles B. Weinberg

Purpose The authors investigate how employee social support impacts children’s perceptions of service quality of a child helpline chat service and the chatters’ immediate well-being. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to examine how action-facilitating support, nurturant support and emotional reflections influence the children and to test whether this impact varies depending upon the controllability of the issues discussed. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop hypotheses about the influence of social support and controllability on children’s perceived service quality and well-being. Chat conversations are coded on the social support given by the employee and the controllability of the issue. Questionnaires are collected to measure children’s service quality and well-being. Using structural equation modeling, hypotheses are tested with a sample of 662 children and chat conversations of a child helpline. Findings The study reveals that for children chatting about controllable issues, nurturant support and negative emotional reflections negatively influence the immediate well-being of these children. Positive emotional reflections positively influence immediate well-being. For children chatting about uncontrollable issues, nurturant support and negative emotional responses positively influence the perceived service quality. Originality/value This study contributes to the services marketing literature by broadening the current understanding of the impact of social support on children’s service quality perceptions and well-being, and by showing how this impact is moderated by the level of controllability of the issue discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiseon Ahn ◽  
Shiwen Lu

Purpose In the service industry, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is considered a strategic valuable resource. Although previous studies emphasized CSR activities in the service industry, a limited number of studies have examined the combined effect with the service experience. Thus, this study aims to examine the potential antecedents of cruise customers’ positive responses toward the cruise company. Design/methodology/approach The proposed model includes CSR activities, service experiences, satisfaction and revisit intention. The model is tested using samples of cruise customers from the USA. Tests of the proposed model produce significant results for path coefficients from two-dimensional service experience (i.e. physical quality and staff behavior) and not from CSR activities (i.e. environmental and philanthropic). Findings Hypothesis testing indicates that among cruise customers, perceived physical quality and staff behavior are more relevant for creating satisfaction and revisit intention than environmental and philanthropic CSR support. Research limitations/implications The results provide important implications for scholars concerning the effects of CSR activities on customer behavior for efficaciously managing customers’ positive experience with facilities and employees. Originality/value There has been a paradigm shift in the cruise industry. The recent trend shows an increasing number of cruise businesses leading to intense competition. Yet, researchers have not adequately examined the impact of service experience and CSR experience simultaneously. Thus, this study contributes to the existing CSR literature by identifying the important determinants of cruise customers’ behavior.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Lundberg ◽  
Susanne Engström ◽  
Helena Lidelöw

Purpose In the construction industry, it has proven difficult to implement and realize innovation efforts, for example in the development of industrialized construction and use of platform concepts. Thus, the purpose of this study is to characterize the innovation diffusion process in the social system of a large Swedish contractor company. Specifically, the diffusion of three innovative industrialized house-building (IHB) platforms and factors affecting their adoption and implementation (particularly effects of their perceived radicality in relation to the company’s decentralized characteristics) are identified and discussed. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach was applied, using empirical material including semi-structured interviews and archival records (research reports from earlier studies at different points in time related to each innovation and annual corporate reports). The material was analyzed using Rogers’ (2003) five-stage innovation process model, acknowledging the importance of social systems’ structures. Findings Structural characteristics of the social system strongly affect innovation diffusion. In subsystems that had not been involved in initiation of the innovations, they were regarded as radical, which hindered their adoption and implementation. Research limitations/implications This study builds upon the recent findings that successful innovation implementation depends on a range of contingencies in the construction context. Although the diffusion of the innovations per se has been traced over a ten-year period, generalizability is limited because the results come from one construction company. Practical implications Contractors have invested substantially in the development of industrialized construction and use of platform concepts, but less in their implementation, so they have obtained little gain. How innovations are perceived and implemented in different subsystems affects the success of their implementation in the overarching social system. Originality/value This study adheres to previous calls for more research on firm level in the complex social system of construction companies by adopting a ten-year perspective on the diffusion of innovation at a large contractor addressing in particular the impact of the innovations perceived radicality in relation to the decentralized characteristics of the company.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney T. Anderson ◽  
Jeffery S. Smith

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the customer’s perception of customer-firm, customer-employee, and employee-firm fit and to assess how these fits impact the service experience. Design/methodology/approach – The paper looks at the impact of fit on the service experience and focusses on three specific types of dyadic fit: customer-employee; customer-firm; and employee-firm. A conceptual model is presented, accompanied by a detailed development of the hypotheses. A sample of 447 consumers is used to empirically test the proposed model. Findings – The analysis reveals the importance of fit and suggest a triadic relationship perspective is essential when designing for the service experience. Specifically, employee-firm fit is key to enhancing fit within the other dyads and providing a superior service experience. Research limitations/implications – The main implication is that this paper expands the investigation of fit by examining the interplay of multiple fits while also exploring how they affect the customer experience. The limitations are based primarily on methodology where the use of a survey to collect data rules out potential generalizations of true cause and effect while also potentially being subject to a common method effect. Practical implications – Managers should consider adopting a triadic relationship perspective when designing for the service experience. A number of managerial implications are proposed and discussed. Originality/value – Prior research has not explored the impact of fit among the customer-employee, customer-firm, and employee-firm dyads in one model on an important outcome such as the service experience. In addition, to show that customer-employee, customer-firm, and employee-firm dyadic fits are predictors of the service experience is novel.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisca Blasco-Lopez ◽  
Nuria Recuero Virto ◽  
Joaquin Aldas Manzano ◽  
Daniela Cruz Delgado

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that Facebook Fan Pages (FFPs) play in the generation of visit intention. The study has three objectives: first, to examine the effects of museum-generated content (MGC) on perceived information quality and perceived customer service and perceived information quality and perceived customer service on visit intention and, second, to test the model with two samples to make comparisons that provide useful insights. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through an online survey that achieved 308 valid responses. A multi-group analysis was conducted to compare the results from two groups: users of the Frida Kahlo museum and Anahuacalli museum FFPs. Findings The results reveal that there are significant differences between the two samples regarding the direct effects of perceived information quality on visit intention and perceived customer service on visit intention. The authors also noted a slight difference between the two museums’ FFPs in the relationship between MGC and perceived information quality. Research limitations/implications Further research is needed to examine other FFP factors that influence visit intention to clarify the results obtained from the two samples and to analyse the proposed model in other settings. This research contributes to the literature concerning the impact of online platforms on visit intention. Originality/value The findings provide useful insights for managers as to how to increase their FFP followers’ intention to visit their establishments.


Author(s):  
Ahmad Farhan Alshira'h ◽  
Hijattulah Abdul-Jabbar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of tax audit, tax rate and tax penalty on sales tax compliance and examine the moderating effect of patriotism on the associations between tax audit, tax rate and tax penalty with sales tax compliance among Jordanian manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach In this study, 660 questionnaires were distributed by using systematic random sampling to manufacturing SMEs in Jordan, after which a total of 385 useable questionnaires were deemed suitable for analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to validate the measurement model and structural model and the predictive relevance of the study’s model. Findings The findings showed that tax audit and tax penalty were positively associated with the level of sales tax compliance, whereas tax rate was insignificantly associated with sales tax compliance. They also demonstrated the moderating significant effect of patriotism on the relationship between tax penalty, tax audit and tax rate with sales tax compliance. Research limitations/implications Tax authorities and policymakers in developing majority societies in developing countries and in other Arab countries, especially in Jordan may use the results to focus their interest on the formulation of policies founded on the outcomes of the study to strengthen eligible SMEs to comply to further boost their sales collections. Originality/value This study extends the deterrence theory in the context of sales tax compliance by proposing the moderating effect of patriotism in the deterrence theory on sales tax compliance among SMEs. Moreover, the suitability for the use of PLS-SEM as a statistical tool in investigating the extended deterrence theory with patriotism as a moderating variable as well as its implications for theory and practice was also discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 532-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommy Lau ◽  
Man Lai Cheung ◽  
Guilherme D. Pires ◽  
Carol Chan

Purpose The abolishment of the wine tax in Hong Kong has led to increased wine consumption and increased demand for wine-related professionals, such as sommeliers. Yet the importance of sommeliers’ value-adding performance in the context of upscale Chinese restaurants has not been examined. To address this gap, the SERVQUAL framework is adopted to examine the influence of sommeliers’ service quality (SQ) on customer satisfaction (CS) and loyalty in the context of upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach The survey method is used to collect data from 302 units of the population of interest, partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the links between constructs. Findings Four of the seven dimensions of sommeliers’ service quality, namely, empathy, tangibles, credibility and assurance, have a significant positive impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, whereas the impact of perceived value and responsiveness on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is positive but only marginally significant. Reliability has a weak and non-significant impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications Examining a small number of upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong limits generalisation of the findings to other contexts. Replication of the research in different contexts will enhance generalizability. In terms of implications, the discussion highlights the importance of sommeliers’ service performance on customers’ SQ perceptions SQ, CS and loyalty, all of which are important variables for restaurateurs. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of the influence of the quality of sommelier’s SQ on CS and loyalty in upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. Given the lack of attention to this service role in the literature, the study contributes theory from which further understanding can develop.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza Hixson

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the social impact that two events, the Adelaide Fringe Festival and the Clipsal 500, have on young residents (16-19 years old) of Adelaide. The purpose of this paper is to examine how young people participate in these events and how this affects their sense of involvement in the event and contributes to their identity development. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methods approach was adopted in which focus groups and questionnaires were conducted with secondary school students. As an exploratory study, focus groups (n=24) were conducted in the first stage of the research. The results of the focus groups were used to develop a questionnaire that resulted in 226 useable responses. The final stage of the research explored one event in further depth in order to determine the influence of different participation levels. Findings – This study found that young people demonstrated more involvement in the Adelaide Fringe Festival and their identities were more influenced by this event. Further investigation of the Adelaide Fringe Festival also indicated that level of participation affects the social outcomes gained, with those participating to a greater degree achieving higher involvement and increased identity awareness. This is demonstrated through a model which aims to illustrate how an event impact an individual based on their role during the event. Originality/value – This paper applies two leisure concepts in order to analyse the impact of events. Activity involvement is a concept which examines the importance of the activity in the participant's life. Also of importance to young people is how activities contribute to their identities, especially because they are in a transitional period of their lives.


Author(s):  
Nada Hammad ◽  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad ◽  
Avraam Papastathopoulos

Purpose This paper aims to investigate residents’ perceptions of tourism’s impact on their support for tourism development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from Abu Dhabi residents (n = 407), who represented 30 nationalities residing in the emirate. Based on social exchange theory, structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Findings Results suggest that Abu Dhabi residents perceive the impacts of tourism positively and are more sensitive to the environmental and economic influences of tourism than the social and cultural influences. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to Abu Dhabi residents; findings cannot be generalized to other emirates in the UAE, or other countries. Originality/value This study adds value to extant tourism literature by investigating residents’ perceptions of the influence of tourism in one of the richest cities worldwide, which aspires to be one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the Middle East.


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