Service environment, provider mood, and provider‐customer interaction
Managing Service Quality: An International Journal
ISSN: 0960-4529
Article publication date: 16 March 2012
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to improve understanding of the relationships between the service environment, service provider mood, and provider‐customer interaction. Specifically, mood is evaluated as a potential moderator of the relationship between the service environment and provider‐customer interaction.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi‐method data collection approach was utilized, including observation and provider and customer surveys. Hypotheses are tested using regression, ANOVA, and MANOVA.
Findings
Findings indicate that service provider evaluations of the physical environment improve in the presence of an appropriate ambient scent. Behavioral responses are also enhanced: providers are viewed as more courteous and customers more friendly. Perhaps the most interesting observation is that provider mood moderates the relationship between the service environment and customer perceptions of service provider behavior.
Research limitations/implications
The only environmental characteristic that was manipulated was scent, and access was granted to only one store over the course of three consecutive Saturdays. Consequently, validity is threatened by the potential for impact of factors other than the manipulated characteristic.
Practical implications
Implications for managers include careful consideration of potential changes to the ambient environment; if introduction of an appropriate scent can be undesirable, other changes may also lead to unexpected results. Changes under consideration should be tested before implementation.
Originality/value
This research extends service theory by examining the relationship between providers and customers in an actual retail setting. Important theoretical contributions include: demonstrating that service provider mood moderates the relationship between service environmental characteristics and customer perceptions of provider behavior; and finding that positive changes to the environment can amplify negative outcomes.
Keywords
Citation
Fowler, K. and Bridges, E. (2012), "Service environment, provider mood, and provider‐customer interaction", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 165-183. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604521211218972
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited