Shopping centre customer service: creating customer satisfaction and loyalty

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emel Kursunluoglu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse customer service effects in creating satisfaction and loyalty. The other antecedents of satisfaction and loyalty such as perceived value and service quality were not analysed in this research. Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory factor analysis was used to classify customer service items. Confirmatory factor analysis was not applied because of there was not any significant theory based on the classification of shopping centre customer service (SCCS). The research model was developed to show the relationships and the effects of customer service which were tested through multiple regression analyses. Findings – As a result of findings, customer service variables were classified into eight factors. Only four of them had effects on satisfaction and loyalty. The findings indicated that customer services had effects on customer satisfaction and loyalty. It was shown that “customer services about atmosphere (CSA)” affected both satisfaction and loyalty whereas “incentive customer services (ICS)”, “customer services in encounter stage (CSE)”, and “customer services about payment (CSP)” affected only loyalty. Research limitations/implications – The research model was about only shopping centres’ customer services; it could not reflect the customer services offered by the other retail formats since the survey was conducted in the limited area and with small sample. The research did not reflect the complete retailing landscape since the survey was applied to only brick and mortar shopping centre customers. The research model was developed according to the customer services offered by Turkish shopping centres and customers’ perceptions about satisfaction and loyalty were measured. The findings can be applicable each shopping centre that offers such customer services and has nearly the same concept. It is agreed that since this research has been conducted in Izmir it reflects the Turkish consumers’ cultural intentions. Practical implications – Although the impact degrees are at low level, customer service is an important tool for creating customer satisfaction and loyalty. According to the SCCS model in this research; it is strongly recommended that CSA, ICS, CSE, and CSP should be improved by shopping centres in order to gain customer satisfaction and loyalty. The last result of the research was surprising because it was expected that all customer service factors in the SCCS model would affect satisfaction and loyalty significantly. Although there were not any direct effects of basic customer services, facilitative customer services, customer services about children, informative customer services on satisfaction and loyalty, shopping centre management should not ignore these types of services since they are really important in the literature. Since the retailer type is important when developing customer service, each retailer should define its own customer service level according to its retail mix strategy. Originality/value – The research is the first paper that surveyed customer service effects in creating satisfaction and loyalty in Turkey through a conceptual model. The study has suggested a new model called SCCS model which classified customer service into eight factors and showed the relationships among customer service, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. The paper has developed the importance of customer service in the Turkish shopping centres.

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingxia Cao ◽  
Haya Ajjan ◽  
Paul Hong

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of post-purchase logistic services on customer satisfaction and future purchase decision, to reveal any differences across China and Taiwan, to fill in a gap in the literature focused on post-purchase logistic activities related to shipping, return, and tracking, to provide managerial guidance in logistics for e-commerce, and to develop insights on logistic services for future research. Design/methodology/approach Using a validated survey instrument, 384 respondents in China and 145 respondents in Taiwan are collected. The research model is analyzed using component-based estimation approach to structural equation modeling. Findings The structural equation analysis of the study found that post-purchase shipping and tracking have an impact on customer satisfaction in both China and Taiwan. It also found that customer service is the most significant factor among the examined antecedents for online shoppers in China. While, return service is more important for shoppers in Taiwan. Finally, customer satisfaction played a stronger positive role for online shoppers in Taiwan as compared to their counterparts in China. Research limitations/implications This research extended the current literature about post-purchase logistic services in an online shopping environment with a literature-based research model and good empirical data support. However, one limitation of the study is that the data collected represents a cross-sectional sample; future research should examine longitudinal sample to study customers’ purchase intentions over time. Practical implications This study can help both scholars and practitioners understand the importance of tracking, return, shipping, and customer service in an online shopping environment and across countries. It provides insights on designing e-commerce relevant shipping services to satisfy and attract customers across countries. Originality/value The study investigated how post-purchase activities contributed to customer satisfaction in online shopping and explored the influence of customer satisfaction on future purchase intention in China and Taiwan. This is one of the first studies available in the literature to provide empirical support and managerial insights about post-purchase activities related to shipping, tracking, and returns for e-commerce with cross-regional comparison.


Author(s):  
Quynh Xuan Tran ◽  
My Van Dang ◽  
Nadine Tournois

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effects of servicescape on customer satisfaction and loyalty – centered on social interaction and service experience in the café setting. Design/methodology/approach Data for this study were collected from approximately 1,800 customers at 185 coffee stores located in the three largest cities in Vietnam through the self-administered questionnaires. Findings The research findings pointed out the significant impacts of café servicescape on social interaction quality, including customer-to-employee interaction (CEI) and customer-to-customer interaction (CCI). Social interactions and servicescape were shown to remarkably influence customer experience quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, the study confirmed the interrelation between service experience, satisfaction and loyalty in the café setting. Practical implications This study provides marketers and service managers a deeper understanding of improving customer satisfaction and loyalty through the control of servicescape attributes and social interactions in café contexts. Originality/value This research explores the significant impacts of café servicescape on social interaction quality (CEI and CCI). Additionally, it provides insights within the role of social interactions to customer’s affective and behavioral responses in service settings, especially the CCI quality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 1153-1169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Souad Djelassi ◽  
Delphine Godefroit-Winkel ◽  
Mbaye Fall Diallo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing customer loyalty to shopping centres across different emerging countries. Specifically, it seeks to determine how the cultural context moderates the direct effects of shopping centre perceived value and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach A shopping centre-intercept survey was conducted among 244 consumers in Morocco and 203 consumers in Tunisia. The proposed model was analysed using partial least squares path modelling. Findings The results demonstrate the impacts of perceived utilitarian and non-utilitarian value on customer satisfaction with a shopping centre, both moderated by the cultural context. Specifically, utilitarian, hedonic and relaxation values exert stronger influences on satisfaction in Tunisia than in Morocco; but socialisation value has a stronger impact on it in Morocco than in Tunisia. The influences of value dimensions on customer loyalty to the shopping centre do not vary between Tunisia and Morocco. Practical implications With these results shopping centre developers and retailers can develop more efficient strategies to target Maghreb emerging countries. For example, they should focus on factors that may increase the utilitarian, hedonic and relaxation values offered by shopping centres in Tunisia but address factors that facilitate socialisation value in Morocco. Originality/value By using a cross-culture perspective, this paper extends and enriches knowledge on shopping centre patronage in Maghreb countries. Also, it considers two non-utilitarian values (socialisation and relaxation), which are relevant in Maghreb countries.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 1508-1529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Rita Biscaia ◽  
Maria J. Rosa ◽  
Patrícia Moura e Sá ◽  
Cláudia S. Sarrico

Purpose The effects of customer satisfaction on loyalty have been widely discussed by the academic community. Although the results of the studies reported in the literature are often contradictory, the existence of a relationship between satisfaction and loyalty is acknowledged, despite the influence of moderators and constraints of various kinds. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this relationship in the specific context of the retail sector, since this sector presents major challenges in terms of competition, and efforts placed on customer satisfaction and loyalty are more evident. Design/methodology/approach A survey based on the European Customer Satisfaction Index (ECSI) model was applied to a retail store in Portugal. This model has its roots in Switzerland, where in 1989, Claes Fornell developed a new complementary method for measuring the overall quality of companies’ output, through the calculation of an aggregated customer satisfaction index. The proposed model is based on a set of causal relationships established between a set of constructs. The ultimate goal is to calculate both satisfaction and loyalty indexes as well as to estimate the relationship between both constructs. Structural equation modelling, based on a partial least squares (PLS) estimation methodology, is the statistical technique used to estimate the model parameters, as well as to compare the aggregated indexes. PLS is based on the principles of linear regression and combines multiple regression aspects with factor analysis, in order to estimate a series of interrelated relationships. Findings The results confirm a positive influence of satisfaction on customers’ loyalty to the retail store. The study also shows the importance of the image construct, due to its strong direct effects on satisfaction, which makes it essential for influencing the loyalty index, both directly and indirectly. The impact of the image construct is also evident on the expectations, as the latter has shown a considerable direct effect on perceived quality. Research limitations/implications The study is based on a single case study of a Portuguese sports retail store. In future it would be interesting to study a representative sample of the whole retail sector. Practical implications The study is useful for the specific retail store where it was undertaken to help it devise better customer service, in order to increase satisfaction and loyalty. It is also useful for the entire network of stores for that retailer and other retail chains. Social implications The systematic application of customer surveys to whole sectors of the economy would improve competition, customer service and, ultimately, contribute to development and economic growth. Originality/value The ECSI has been applied to various industry sectors in different countries, including Portugal. It has never been used in the context of the Portuguese retail sector and it adds to the discussion on the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty, which is a pertinent topic of interest for researchers in quality management.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 152-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerson Tontini ◽  
Júlio Cesar da Silva ◽  
Eliane Fátima Strapazzon Beduschi ◽  
Elis Regina Mulinari Zanin ◽  
Margarete de Fátima Marcon

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the nonlinear impact of online retail stores’ quality dimensions on general customer satisfaction and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – Using a quantitative approach, 429 online users answered a closed questionnaire regarding their present satisfaction with 26 service attributes, their general satisfaction and loyalty. Using factorial analysis with Varimax rotation, five service-quality dimensions are studied: service accessibility/speed, fault recovery, buying reliability, service and site flexibility and site interaction/feedback. Penalty and reward contrast analysis identifies the Kano model classification of the service-quality dimensions, and the nonlinear impact of these dimensions, and customer satisfaction, on customer loyalty. Findings – The results show that there is a nonlinearity between quality dimensions, customer satisfaction and loyalty. The dimension “service accessibility/speed” has a one-dimensional impact on customer satisfaction, but with higher reward impact than penalty impact. “Fault recovery” is a “must-be”, “buying reliability” and “service flexibility” are “attractive” and “site interaction/feedback” is one-dimensional. Besides, the dimension “service accessibility/speed” has also a direct impact on loyalty if achieving above-average performance, thus reinforcing general customer satisfaction. Originality/value – Few previous papers explore this nonlinearity in online retail services. So, future studies should lead to a theoretical and practical understanding of managing these services. Understanding this nonlinearity may help companies to better identify what improve or offer to customers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 525-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Asmy Bin Mohd Thas Thaker ◽  
Md Fouad Bin Amin ◽  
Hassanudin Bin Mohd Thas Thaker ◽  
Anwar Bin Allah Pitchay

Purpose This study aims to find important factors of Malaysian Islamic banking customers’ loyalty or continuance intention to use Islamic mobile banking services. Design/methodology/approach The primary data are collected from the survey administered to 250 customers in the Klang Valley and the analysis is conducted using partial least squares (PLS). Findings Based on the findings, continuance intention of using Islamic mobile banking services was found to be depended on the usability of mobile banking services, customer service provided by Islamic banks towards mobile banking services, customer satisfaction on mobile banking services and trust of customers towards mobile banking services. In addition, the mediating effect of Islamic mobile banking services continuance adoption is significantly influenced by customer satisfaction and trust. Research limitations/implications The sample size and area of study become the obvious limitations, and interpretation of the results and conclusion cannot be as generalised. In addition, as the respondents of this study are existing customers who have used Islamic mobile banking services at least once, relying on the perception of one key informant might imply cognitive biases. Besides, the use of current factors might limit the ability to explore other potentially important determinants of the customers’ continuance intention in using Islamic mobile banking services. Practical implications By understanding these continuance intention factors amongst the customers, it would help the industry player particularly Islamic banking to plan and strategise appropriate policies and support necessary programmes on diversifying and promoting financial transaction using mobile banking services amongst their existing and potential customers. Originality/value This paper offers an additional literature on Islamic mobile banking, especially from the Malaysian context. There is a lack of study that focuses on loyalty towards Islamic mobile banking services. The paper is considered to be the first attempt to examine the factors that influence Malaysian Islamic banking customers’ loyalty or continuance intention to use Islamic mobile banking services.


2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 386-401
Author(s):  
Nurdjanah Hamid

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the factor analysis for balanced scorecard (BSC) as measuring competitive advantage of infrastructure assets of owned state ports in Indonesia: Pelindo IV, Makassar, Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach This investigation adopts an explanatory and an exploratory qualitative case study method to analyze the effectiveness of BSC over the strategy management processes. For data collection, the researchers have used semi-structured interviews, direct observation and document collection. Data collection was made during a six-month period, which allowed gaining of deep knowledge on the culture and management methods used in alpha. Other data collected refer to the company’s documentation and reporting of online media publications. Detailed interview data are the main data sources, which allow obtaining of a detailed and holistic understanding of the experience, opinions and attitudes of the interviewees. Interviews focus on asset management to determine the relationship between various factors. This study adopts ideal BSC principle (four perspectives) to develop strategic map for infrastructure asset of Pelindo IV. Analysis tools using factor analysis for the indicators (financial, customer, learning-growth and internal process) measure the competitive advantages. The data for factor analysis from the perception of each stakeholder using questionnaire are collected. Findings The competitive advantages of Pelindo IV depend on 81.2 per cent from financial perspective, customer perspective, internal process perspective and learning perspective, and 18.2 per cent from the other factor. The result of measurement model of competitive advantage in Figure 2 is significantly (p-value < 0.05) measured by financial perspective performance, customer perspective performance, internal process perspective performance and learning perspective performance. On the basis of the highest coefficient loading factor, it can be shown that the most powerful competitive advantages are measured by learning perspective. The high value of competitive advantage of Pelindo IV, Makassar, Indonesia, is especially seen from the learning perspective performance. The order result of BSC for measuring the competitive advantages is as follows: learning perspective performance, financial perspective performance, customer perspective performance and internal process perspective performance. Originality/value Originality of this study looks at the following three points: first, the measurement competitive advantages. Previous studies used measurements of cost leadership strategy, differential strategy and focus strategy as competitive advantages measuring (Porter, 1985; Warf and Stutz, 2007; Clulow et al., 2003). This study uses BSCs with four indicators (financial perspective result, customer perspective result, internal process perspective result and learning perspective). Second, on the other hand, several studies have investigated the BSCs as performance measurement (Ozturk and Coskun, 2014; Malgwi and Dahiru, 2014; Binden et al., 2014). Third, this study uses the factor analysis to measure the competitive advantage by BSCs, which is different from the previous study analysis.


Author(s):  
Mohd Fathi Abu Yaziz Et. al.

As the pandemic of Covid 19 has directly affected the business industry, the business model has changed, including the logistics industry, especially the courier company. Courier company has benefited the most during this pandemic situation as the e-commerce business flourished. Enhanced service by courier company is crucial as stiff competition in the industry. Therefore, this study explores the impact of customer service, insurance, and luggage delivery on logistics customer satisfaction. A quantitative method was employed to analyse the effects of enhanced services of customer services, insurance, and luggage delivery towards logistics customer satisfaction, where 384 responses were collected from respondents identified as active users of courier services for the last 12 months. IBM SPSS was used to analyse the response collected using descriptive, reliability and Pearson Correlation analysis. As a result, it is justifiable that customer service, insurance, and luggage delivery positively impact logistics customer satisfactio


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Narpat Asia ◽  
Pramod Paliwal ◽  
Yupal Shukla

Learning outcomes The learning outcome of this paper are as follows: enabling students to learn about business and marketing issues of the natural gas distribution industry. To expose students to organizational processes aimed at finding solutions to customer issues. To make them appreciate the aspects of service quality and SERVQUAL model. To make the students aware of the significance of market research for problem-solving. How to use market research findings to address the customer issues? Enabling the students to learn how cross-functional teams contribute to addressing marketing and customer issues. Students should appreciate how to study towards creating a customer-centric organization with an organization-wide commitment including that from the top leadership. Case overview/synopsis Abhay Shankar, Sr. Manager-Customer Service at Reliable Gas Company Limited a state government piped natural gas (PNG) distribution utility whose customer service department is concerned about the provision of best service to its PNG domestic customers. Domestic customers are low volume but largest in numbers and are considered to be a tough, demanding customer segment. A general opinion among the marketing team of the company is that they are trying their best to serve its customers and that their efforts are no less than their private sector counterpart global gas customer service efforts. Abhay is in dilemma on what to do to improve customer services? Complexity academic level Masters students. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS: 8 Marketing.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi Phuong Linh Nguyen ◽  
Xuan Hau Doan ◽  
Thu Thuy Nguyen ◽  
Thi Mai Nguyen

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate factors affecting Vietnamese farmer's intention toward organic agricultural production based on research model integrating theories: theory of planned behavior (TPB) and norm activation model (NAM).Design/methodology/approachAfter in-depth interviews with 5 agricultural researchers and 5 farmers, the authors determined the official research model and built a complete survey. Data were collected from 318 farmers in the Hanoi, Vietnam by directly survey. Statistical methods, such as Cronbach's alpha analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM), were used to analyze the data.FindingsThis paper shows that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and personal norm were significantly related to intention of the farmers; awareness of consequences was positively related to ascription of responsibility, personal norm, attitude and subjective norms; ascription of responsibility has a positive relationship with personal norm. The TPB-NAM integration model is proven to be superior to the original TPB model when studying factors affecting Vietnamese farmer's intention toward organic agricultural production.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this paper is that the sampling method is not representative for the whole country and just stops at researching the intentions of farmers without understanding the practices of organic agricultural production.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that state management agencies in Vietnam need to pay attention to raise awareness among farmers about the role of organic farming, communicate to farmers through different channels about the benefits of organic farming compared to conventional agriculture and form information spillover groups between farmers who have produced organic agriculture and have not yet produced organic agriculture.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the existing literature by focusing on integrating TPB and NAM when understanding farmers' intention toward organic agricultural production in Vietnam. This integrated model has proven the suitability of combining two approaches, a rational approach and an ethical approach, when studying farmer intentions.


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