Journal of Service Theory and Practice

Roy, Sanjit Kumar; Sekhon, Harjit; Nguyen, Bang

doi: 10.1108/JSTP-11-2019-309pmid: N/A

Sahi, Gurjeet Kaur; Devi, Rita; Dash, Satya Bhusan

doi: 10.1108/jstp-12-2018-0268pmid: N/A

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of a customer engagement-enabling platform on a value captured by the firm and value acquired by the customer. It explores the relevance of relational and expertise value for customers during the engagement process so as to ensure positive referrals about the service provider.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 482 students, the study examines the customer engagement efforts of professional institutes that provide training to prepare for the civil service examinations of the Union Public Service Commission. The survey is confined to central areas of New Delhi, India. Statistical techniques including confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling are used to analyse the data, and reliability and validity tests are performed.FindingsThe findings reveal the indispensable role of service providers as creators of a meaningful effective learning process and of interpersonal relations with customers for generating more business through customer referrals.Research limitations/implicationsThe study validated the moderating role of relational value between customers’ expertise value and their referrals on the basis of motivation theory, which asserts that customers’ motivation to contribute to the organisation is driven by the individuals’ extrinsic relational need for belongingness, acceptance by like-minded individuals, and feedback, recognition and respect from employees of the organisation.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the existing literature by integrating the well-developed social exchange and motivation theory so as to investigate the factors that propel customers’ positive word of mouth for the service provider.

Zhang, Yu; Shao, Bing-Jia

doi: 10.1108/jstp-12-2018-0271pmid: N/A

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence mechanism of waiting time on customer satisfaction based on first impression bias, which explains how customers’ perceived service-entry waiting time (PSWT) influences their first impression of service staff and satisfaction in the context of online service. Furthermore, the moderating effect of three information formats (formal, informal and hybrid) of opening remark on the relationship between PSWT and first impression, and the moderating effect of perceived in-service waiting time (PIWT) on the relationship between first impression and customer satisfaction are investigated.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies were used to verify the research model. First, an experiment on prepurchase consulting services for cruise tourism products was designed, and 810 Chinese individuals have participated. Second, 20 interviews with e-commerce practitioners in China were conducted.FindingsThe results show that, first, PSWT negatively influences customers’ first impression of service staff. Second, customers prefer the hybrid format to present opening remarks, which not only conveys the respect of the staff but also fosters a relationship. Third, in-service waits are equally as important as service-entry waits in online service. When PIWT is longer, the positive influence of first impression on customer satisfaction is weakening, resulting in lower customer satisfaction.Practical implicationsThis study provides suggestions for online service enterprises to minimize the negative impact of waiting time and improve customer satisfaction through waiting time management.Originality/valueThis study provides a new perspective for exploring the mechanism of waiting time on customer satisfaction in online service context, and extends previous research related to waiting time by exploring the influence of waiting time in multiple service stages and expression modes of service staff.

Gaur, Sanjaya Singh; Kingshott, Russel P.J.; Sharma, Piyush

doi: 10.1108/jstp-12-2018-0295pmid: N/A

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of relationship comfort and relationship proneness on the ability of service firms to build and maintain customer relationships in emerging markets (EMs).Design/methodology/approachA field-survey was conducted with retail-banking customers in India (n=300) using a structured self-administered questionnaire with well-established scales.FindingsRelationship comfort positively affects key relationship marketing (RM) constructs (e.g. customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and loyalty) and relationship proneness positively moderates (strengthens) the impact of relationship comfort on customer commitment and loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings may not be generalizable to all customer types using bank services as well as other types of services and in other EMs.Practical implicationsService firms in EMs can build and maintain robust customer relationships by using relationship comfort and relationship proneness to strengthen key RM constructs, such as customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and loyalty.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the importance of maintaining RM as a tool to build valuable customer relationships but also reveals the importance of relationship comfort and relationship proneness in building trust-based customer relationships in the EMs.

Rabbanee, Fazlul K.; Haque, Mohammad Moinul; Banik, Shanta; Islam, Mohammad Majedul

doi: 10.1108/jstp-12-2018-0276pmid: N/A

The purpose of this paper is to offer a better understanding of managing engagement in an emerging economy service. It explores the role of organisational climates for initiative and psychological safety as the key drivers of employee engagement (EE). It also examines the effects of EE on customer engagement (CE) and, in turn, on relationship commitment and switching intention.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a structured survey of service employees and customers of 69 bank branches in Bangladesh using two survey instruments. Responses were collected from 156 employees and 316 customers. A dyadic data set was created by matching customer data with the corresponding employee data collected from each bank branch. Structural equation modelling using AMOS (version 22.0) was employed for data analysis.FindingsOrganisational climates for initiative and psychological safety positively influence EE. In turn, EE significantly influences CE which has a significant impact on customer relationship commitment and switching intention.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could consider actual customer behaviour, such as repeat purchase, as the key outcome variable.Practical implicationsThe findings emphasise that investment by service managers in organisational resources to facilitate favourable climates for initiative and psychological safety would engage employees at work, which would ultimately help to attain CE and commitment, and reduce switching intention.Originality/valueThis research extends the existing engagement literature with empirical evidence supporting two new EE drivers and two new CE outcomes. It offers a better understanding of managing engagement in the financial services industry of an emerging economy, focussing on the relationship chain from organisational climate to EE, CE and customer-based outcomes.

Fatima, Johra Kayeser; di Mascio, Rita; Johns, Raechel; Quazi, Ali

doi: 10.1108/jstp-11-2018-0250pmid: N/A

The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediation impacts of core, relational and tangible service-quality features on the relationship between customer–frontline employee rapport and customer dependency in an emerging market context. The study examines the moderating effects of relationship age and frequency of customers’ physical visits.Design/methodology/approachPartial least squares-based structural equation modelling was used to analyse data from a survey of 290 financial services customers in Dhaka, Bangladesh using the convenience sampling technique.FindingsResults show that relational service-quality features had the largest mediation impact on the rapport–dependency relationship, followed by core and tangible service-quality features. Relationship age was not found to be a significant moderator for any relationship. However, the moderation effect of the frequency of customers’ physical visits to the service premises was significant, but only for the link between relational service-quality features and customer dependency and not for the other two types of service-quality features.Research limitations/implicationsData collected from several other emerging markets would provide more rigorous findings: this is recommended as an avenue for further research.Practical implicationsPractitioners can manipulate specific relational or tangible service-quality features to increase customer dependency on their firms, thus ensuring longer-term customer retention.Originality/valueThis study is the first one to examine the relative significance of the impacts of relational features vs tangible features of services on customer dependency in the emerging market context, with rapport serving as an antecedent.

Mohd-Any, Amrul Asraf; Mutum, Dilip S.; Ghazali, Ezlika M.; Mohamed-Zulkifli, Lokmanulhakim

doi: 10.1108/jstp-10-2018-0223pmid: N/A

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of successful service recovery in the airline sector by examining the interrelationship between perceived justice, recovery satisfaction and overall satisfaction, customer trust and customer loyalty. Furthermore, the research assesses the mediating effect of overall satisfaction and customer trust on customer loyalty.Design/methodology/approachData were collected via an airport intercept survey of Malaysia Airlines passengers who had experienced service failure. In total, 380 responses were used for the final analysis. The study uses partial least squares structural equation modelling technique with SmartPLS 3.0, in order to test and validate the research model and hypotheses posited.FindingsThe results reveal that: recovery satisfaction is significantly affected by procedural and interactional justice; distributive and procedural justice, as well as recovery satisfaction influenced overall satisfaction; customer trust is most influenced by interactional justice, distributive justice and recovery satisfaction; customer loyalty is positively affected by customer trust, overall satisfaction and recovery satisfaction; and the influence amongst recovery satisfaction and customer loyalty is partially mediated by customer trust and overall satisfaction.Originality/valueThe study contributes to a whole conceptual comprehension of the essential determinants of customer loyalty from the combined perspectives of three theories, namely, justice theory, expectancy disconfirmation theory and commitment-trust theory. This study successfully differentiates the three dimensions of perceived justice and assesses them individually to discern and compare their influence on overall satisfaction, recovery satisfaction and trust. In addition, the study finds that the influence of recovery satisfaction on loyalty is partially and sequentially mediated by trust and overall satisfaction.

Wu, Jintao; Chen, Junsong; Chen, Honghui; Dou, Wenyu; Shao, Dan

doi: 10.1108/jstp-11-2018-0243pmid: N/A

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how nonprofit service providers can better engage their customers through online communication. It identifies two communication styles and three communication functions, and examines their impact on customer commenting, customer liking and customer sharing.Design/methodology/approachSimilar to Python for Facebook, a software package for the automatic retrieval of web page content was developed specifically for this study to extract data from the microblog Sina Weibo. Following the successful retrieval of 1,500 randomly selected messages from 34 universities in China, a two-level regression was performed using Mplus 7 to examine the association between the proposed relationships.FindingsThe findings reveal that messages with a friendly communication style increase both the number of comments and their positive tone; an authoritative style has no effect on customer engagement. The functions associated with message content (spreading information, building community or promoting action) influence customer liking and sharing. Building community tends to engage more customers than spreading information; promoting action often generates the least customer engagement in social media settings.Originality/valueThe study fills an important research gap in the service marketing literature as it pertains to nonprofit service organizations (i.e. universities) by identifying two types of online identities based on the communication style and the messages posted on social media. This study is the first to investigate the relationship between identity type and audience engagement, and to analyze the moderating factors of this relationship.