scholarly journals Managing Customer Participation and Customer Interactions in Service Delivery: the Case of Museums and Educational Services

Organizacija ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Amorim ◽  
Maria João Rosa ◽  
Sandra Santos

AbstractBackground and Purpose – In this study we investigate determinants of customers’ quality perceptions in service processes which involve customer participation and customer to customer interaction (CCI). Building on existing multidimensional approaches to service quality we explore relevant quality aspects for related to the performance customer participation and CCI.Design/Methodology/Approach – The study builds on focus groups conduct with employees and customers of a leading provider of educational and science services, which offered a portfolio of service activities requiring very diverse levels of customer participation and CCI, to characterize service quality dimensions.Results – The study distinguishes three dimensions of service delivery quality: a dimension related to the providers’ direct performance; a second dimension relative to the performance of customers’ own participation in service activities, and a third dimension relative to the interaction with other customers. The work extends service quality literature by identifying new dimensions which affect service quality in service settings with active customer involvement.Conclusion – Service providers have been developing very diverse delivery processes, frequently inviting customers to have active roles in service production. Often, customers also interact with other costumers in service delivery. The paper provides a contribution to foster the debate about service quality frameworks, and aims to inform the design and the management of services where customer participation and CCI have a key role.

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fung Yi Millissa Cheung ◽  
Wai Ming To

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how task- and relation-oriented customers co-create high quality services with frontline employees from the perspective of customer-dominant (C-D) logic. Design/methodology/approach – The authors reviewed the service management literature and identified a number of critical components that help service providers understand the psychology and behaviour of their customers, and how their customers perceive service encounters. The authors tested the theoretical model using a random survey sample of 707 consumers in Hong Kong. Findings – The authors found that information sharing fully mediated the interactive effects of customer involvement and customer motivational orientation on customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction. These findings support the C-D logic that customers as co-creators of value play a dominant role in service encounters. Research limitations/implications – The authors contribute to the existing management literature by identifying the importance of the C-D logic for service delivery and management. In particular, the involvement of customers with different motivational orientations through information sharing significantly affects customers’ perceived service quality and satisfaction. Originality/value – The paper enhances the understanding of customer’s logic by exploring the conditions and process between customer involvement and service delivery. Further directions for theoretical and empirical research are suggested.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 473-494
Author(s):  
Ja-Shen Chen ◽  
Hung-Tai Tsou ◽  
Cindy Yunhsin Chou ◽  
Ciou-Hua Ciou

Purpose Drawing on the extant multichannel service quality literature and customer needs regarding the experiential value of online and offline shopping, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among multichannel service delivery quality (MSDQ), customer experiences, continued engagement intentions and customer involvement. Design/methodology/approach A research model with five hypotheses was proposed. Data were collected from 911 Taiwanese consumers who had a minimum of two years of multichannel shopping experience. The consumers were asked to complete a survey about their experience with MSDQ. Structural equation modelling was adopted to analyse the data. Findings The results of the analysis suggest that MSDQ positively impacts customer experiences, which in turn influence their continued engagement intentions. Furthermore, the analysis found that customer involvement positively moderates the effects of MSDQ on customer experiences. Research limitations/implications This study adopts the customer experience view to examine the effect of a holistic MSDQ design (including information transparency and accessibility and channel integration) on continued engagement intentions. By integrating a different conceptual lens, this study investigates the relationships among multichannel service quality, customer experiences and customer involvement, which adds alternative insights to the existing findings. Practical implications Managers must provide approaches to enhance the customer experiential values of utilitarianism, aesthetic appeal and playfulness; facilitate the information flow to be transparent and easily accessible; and provide different degrees of service based on customers’ experiences with their multichannel services to satisfy all consumers’ shopping needs. Originality/value The literature has focussed primarily on service providers’ technology capabilities and resources to design multichannel delivery systems. However, this study develops an MSDQ model and investigates its effects on customers’ experiences and continued engagement intentions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Elina Jaakkola ◽  
Harri Terho

PurposeThe quality of the customer journey has become a critical determinant of successful service delivery in contemporary business. Extant journey research focuses on the customer path to purchase, but pays less attention to the touchpoints related to service delivery and consumption that are key for understanding customer experiences in service-intensive contexts. The purpose of this study is to conceptualize service journey quality (SJQ), develop measures for the construct and study its key outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a discovery-oriented research approach to conceptualize SJQ by synthesizing theory and field-based insights from customer focus group discussions. Next, using consumer survey data (N = 278) from the financial services context, the authors develop measures for the SJQ. Finally, based on an additional survey dataset (N = 239), the authors test the nomological validity and predictive relevance of the SJQ.FindingsSJQ comprises of three dimensions: (1) journey seamlessness, (2) journey personalization and (3) journey coherence. This study demonstrates that SJQ is a critical driver of service quality and customer loyalty in contemporary business. This study finds that the loyalty link is partially mediated through service quality, indicating that SJQ explains loyalty above and beyond service quality.Research limitations/implicationsSince service quality only partially mediates the link between service journey quality and customer loyalty, future studies should examine alternative mediators, such as customer experience, for a more comprehensive understanding of the performance effects.Practical implicationsThe study offers concrete tools for service managers who wish to understand and develop the quality of service journeys.Originality/valueThis study advances the service journey concept, demonstrates that the quality of the service journey is a critical driver of customer performance and provides rigorous journey constructs for future service research.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Emeka Izogo ◽  
Mathias Egede Elom ◽  
Mercy Mpinganjira

PurposeAlthough scholars highlighted the need to close the interactive marketing gap and enhanced understanding of willingness to pay more in settings where customer participation in the service delivery process is paramount, research addressing this issue is scare. This study investigates the effect of perceived employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement on customer value and willingness to pay more. The study also examines the extent to which customer value mediates the effect of employee commitment and customer involvement on willingness to pay more for banking services.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis was based on a sample of 211 Nigerian bank customers procured through a mall-intercept survey technique. The partial least squares structural equation modelling procedure and the Preacher–Hayes Bootstrapping technique aided hypotheses testing.FindingsThis study demonstrates that elements of employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement have significant positive effect on the components of customer value. It also shows that customer value components have significant effect on customers' willingness to pay more. Additionally, the study shows that components of customer value mediate the effect of employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement on willingness to pay more.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes to closing gaps in interactive marketing literature by uncovering how willingness to pay more for services is influenced by customer perceptions of employee commitment (affective and calculative) service delivery, customer involvement and customer value (hedonic and utilitarian).Practical implicationsIt is important for managers to put in place measures that will help them know the kind of commitment cues their employees are emitting to customers as well as levels of customer involvement during service encounters.Originality/valueThis study breaks new ground in three unique ways. First, the study represents the first attempt to examine the combined effect of employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement on consumer value perceptions. Second, the study also demonstrates that hedonic value has a more pronounced effect on willingness to pay more for banking services than utilitarian value. Finally, the study shows the extent to which customer value (hedonic vs utilitarian) mediates the effect of employee commitment to service delivery and customer involvement on willingness to pay more.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 295-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zyad M. Alzaydi ◽  
Ali Al-Hajla ◽  
Bang Nguyen ◽  
Chanaka Jayawardhena

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide researchers with an overview of the service quality and delivery domain, focussing on the inclusion of customer co-production and customer integration. Specifically, this paper concentrates on service quality (including quality measurement), the service environment, controls and their consequences. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive review of the literature is conducted, analysed and presented. Findings The review shows that service delivery is both complex and challenging, particularly when considering the unique characteristics of services and the high level of customer involvement in their creation. The facilitation, transformation and usage framework identifies how failures can occur at each stage of service delivery, beginning with the characteristics of the service environment, while control theory offers insights into the formal and informal controls that may be applied in the facilitation and transformation stages, which may reduce the likelihood or extent of such failures. Originality/value Despite the fact that it is widely accepted that service quality is an antecedent to customer satisfaction, it is surprising that this customer co-creation aspect has been largely neglected in the extant literature. As such, the role that customer co-production plays in service quality performance has been examined in this paper. It is hoped that this examination will enhance both theoretical and practical understanding of service quality. It would be useful to find modern tools that can help in improving service quality performance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 547-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyson Ang ◽  
Ru-Shiun Liou ◽  
Shuqin Wei

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate if perceived cultural distance (PCD) negatively affects service quality and customer satisfaction through customers’ social judgements of the service providers’ warmth and competence in intercultural service encounters (ICSE), and if this negative effect can be mitigated through customer participation (CP).Design/methodology/approachA 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design with an online consumer panel was conducted using a series of intercultural service encounter scenarios (in the weight loss service context) to manipulate CP (high vs low) and pictures of service providers to induce PCD (high vs low).FindingsAs hypothesized, in the context of ICSE, PCD negatively impacts customers’ social judgements of the service providers’ warmth and competence, which in turn influence service quality and customer satisfaction. However, the negative impact of PCD is alleviated when the level of CP is high.Research limitations/implicationsUsing a single service context (weight loss services) may restrict the generalizability of findings. Future research may explore other service contexts.Practical implicationsTo improve customers’ experience, managers in service firms with multicultural customers may create more engagement opportunities by designing the service delivery process in ways in which more CP and involvement is allowed.Originality/valueThis research is among the first to highlight the importance of consumers’ social judgements about culturally dissimilar service providers, which at baseline come with disadvantages but that can be altered through marketing actions (e.g. enhanced CP).


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
Mohammad Sultan Ahmad Ansari ◽  
Jamal Ahmad Farooquie ◽  
Said Gattoufi

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty and Operational Performance of telecom service industry in Sultanate of Oman. It also investigate how technology adds value to service delivery system and improvement of Service Quality. The empirical data were collected by administering 1,450 questionnaires and out of which 888 completed and usable responses were retrieved. The study is first of kind that evaluated well-established chain of service i.e. services provided by Original Equipment Manufacturers to Telecom Service Providers and further service provided by the Telecom Service Providers to the End Users. The feedback was taken on forward and backward chain to evaluate comprehensive service chain, instead of evaluating an individual chain i.e. Service provided by Original Equipment Manufacturers to Telecom Service Providers or vice versa or from Telecom Service Providers to the End Users. Questionnaires feedback was taken from comprehensive chain of services, i.e. forward and backward chain feedback was considered. Research findings suggest that technological support would improve service delivery system and service organizations shall put special emphasize on Service Quality for achieving critical success, which would improve overall Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty, Operational Performance and Firm Profitability.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
samuel amponsah ◽  
Boadi Agyekum

Assessing students’ satisfaction of service quality is vital to educational service providers. This qualitative study hence employed the SERVQUAL Theory to explore the perspectives of 30 distance learning students on the quality of services provided at the University of Ghana Learning Centres. The participants were purposively selected and engaged in in-depth qualitative interviews through a semi-structured interview guide. Our findings revealed varied satisfaction levels with the five dimensions of quality of service: reliability, assurance, responsiveness, tangibility, and empathy. The findings revealed that students’ perceptions of the tangibility and empathy dimensions were negative. We thus advocate leveraging the three dimensions perceived to be satisfying among students while ensuring improvements in the two other dimensions that elicited no satisfaction. Consequently, we offer recommendations framed by UNESCO that may be of interest to providers and managers of distance education programmes in similar learning centres.


Author(s):  
Masataka Nakajima ◽  
Hiroshi Kato ◽  
Yoshiki Shimomura

In the manufacturing sector, product-service systems (PSSs) have attracted considerable attention as a means to unify and integrate the design of products and services. In order to maximize customer value, the design of products and services should be integrated. Thus far, unified schemes related to service activities and product behaviors have been proposed in the field of service engineering. In these approaches, services are modeled from the viewpoint of function, and a service delivery process that is based on service activities and product behaviors is developed. However, when service providers attempt to improve their service, the existing PSS methods are inadequate from the viewpoint of providing suggestions for improvement. Therefore, this research aims to establish a method for PSSs to suggest improvements in their own service. Thus, in this paper, the authors propose a method for service function improvement that involves analysis of the service delivery process and enhances customer value.


Author(s):  
Nadya Paramita ◽  
Siska Noviarisanti

The digital transformation of health services causes an increasing number of digital health service providers in Indonesia. The user shares their experiences and reviews each other on the online platform. This study aims to understand user perceptions of m-health services in Indonesia based on m-health service quality with a big data approach. Research using text mining is derived from the results of the reviews of the application Alodokter and Halodoc. User-generated content was gathered from the platform Google Play Store in the period April to December 2020. Based on the sentiment analysis, Alodokter performs well with 73% positive and 27% negative, while Halodoc also dominated with 86% positive and 14% negative. User reviews are categorized based on three dimensions of health service quality with a multiclass classification. It is possible to identify the word networks that often appear in user reviews through text network analysis. The dimension that reviews chiefly on Alodokter and Halodoc is perceived outcome quality. The result of this study could help or use as guidance to be a reference for evaluations to improve Indonesia's quality of m-health services.


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