New aspects of research into service encounters and service quality
International Journal of Service Industry Management
ISSN: 0956-4233
Article publication date: 1 May 2006
Abstract
Purpose
The objective is two‐fold. The first is to describe contemporary and future penetration (i.e. analysis and understanding) in service encounter research. The other is to describe contemporary and future abstraction in service quality research.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides a conceptual discussion of new aspects of research into service encounters and service quality.
Findings
There are still flaws in the contemporary penetration of service encounters and the contemporary abstraction of the service quality construct.
Research limitations/implications
Service encounters and service quality pertain not only to human interactions, but also to the interaction between individuals and self‐service technology. The new aspects of service encounters and service quality described here are restricted to the interaction between individuals. It is argued that an extended penetration of service encounters, and an extended abstraction of the service quality construct, taken together, provide great potential for future research opportunities in services marketing.
Practical implications
The aspects of penetration discussed here have the potential to provide a more sophisticated understanding of the complexity and dynamics of service encounters. The aspects of abstraction described here have the potential to contribute to a more sophisticated level of measurement of the service quality construct.
Originality/value
A two‐fold approach is suggested that goes beyond the current state of the art in terms of penetration of service encounters and abstraction of the service quality construct. This is likely to trigger and encourage innovative research designs and alternative methodological approaches to new research problems. This might also stimulate innovative analytical techniques that could produce groundbreaking research findings, with important implications for practice.
Keywords
Citation
Svensson, G. (2006), "New aspects of research into service encounters and service quality", International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 245-257. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230610667096
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited