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21 – 30 of over 5000
Article
Publication date: 13 October 2022

Lovemore Chikazhe, Thomas Bhebhe, Brighton Nyagadza, Edmore Munyanyi and Tricia Singizi

This paper aims to investigate how graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and perceived job performance can be used to assess university service quality. Also, this…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate how graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and perceived job performance can be used to assess university service quality. Also, this study examines the mediating role of perceived job performance on the effect of university service quality on graduates’ satisfaction and loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative methodology was adopted where university graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and job performance were used to assess the level of the university’s service quality. Through a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 280 university graduates employed in Chinhoyi town, Zimbabwe, during the period between August and December 2021.

Findings

This study’s findings indicate that self-service technology influences university service quality which in turn impacts on graduates’ perceived job performance, satisfaction and loyalty. Graduates' perceived job performance was also found to partially mediate the effect of university service quality on satisfaction and loyalty among graduates.

Research limitations/implications

This study’s results are instrumental to enable university’s management in developing economies to adopt and improve self-service technologies as this enhances university service quality and graduates’ perceived job performance, satisfaction and loyalty.

Originality/value

This paper provides new insights, that is, the incorporation of graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and job performance in assessing the university’s service quality. This research further clarifies the function of graduates’ perceived job performance in mediating the effect of university service quality on graduate satisfaction and loyalty. This study further adds to our understanding of tools, criteria and methods for assuring university service quality.

Details

Quality Assurance in Education, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-4883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2001

Anne Morris, Louise Thornley and Katie Snudden

The early 1990s saw the emergence of automated self‐service issue units in the UK. Since then we have seen the introduction of second and third generation systems, the launch of…

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Abstract

The early 1990s saw the emergence of automated self‐service issue units in the UK. Since then we have seen the introduction of second and third generation systems, the launch of self‐return facilities and their adoption for use in both public and academic libraries. This paper re‐examines the position of self‐issue and return towards the end of the decade and century based on the literature and research conducted by Loughborough University. It describes the main self‐issue/return systems available, lists the benefits and opportunities of implementing them and discusses considerations such as objectives, costs, security, location of equipment, functionality and design of systems, and the effect self‐issue/return has on users and staff.

Details

The Electronic Library, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2018

Maria Åkesson and Bo Edvardsson

This paper aims to develop a theoretical framework of archetypical customer roles in a self-service-based system by applying role theory to understand customers’ resource…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a theoretical framework of archetypical customer roles in a self-service-based system by applying role theory to understand customers’ resource integration and value co-creation efforts in practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a three-phase explorative case study of customers’ experiences of using self-service technologies at a furniture retailer. A total of 90 interviews were conducted.

Findings

Four archetypical enacted customer roles during value co-creation in a self-service-based system are identified: passive non-bothered, passive hesitant, active realist and active independent. Furthermore, it is shown that these roles shape how resources become.

Research limitations/implications

The challenges facing our retail practice bear similarities with those in other contexts, e.g. financial and travel industries, government or public sector service settings, in which self-service technologies are becoming more common. Therefore, this study setting enables some tentative generalizations. The case study approach, however, limits the statistical generalizability of the findings.

Practical implications

The importance of understanding is that not all customers are well-equipped for co-creating value through self-service. By engaging customers and offering them guidance when they encounter difficulties in managing the value co-creation process, as well as viewing them as resource integrators and value co-creators, firms can help them enact more active roles.

Originality/value

The archetypical customer roles contribute theoretically to detailing how resource integration and value co-creation can be shaped by enacted roles, an influence that has not been explicitly proposed in empirical service research.

Details

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-669X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1979

Milan Zeleny

Firmly press the “hold” button on those predictions that the post‐industrial society is nigh. Given current trends, another scenario can be developed for the future, an…

Abstract

Firmly press the “hold” button on those predictions that the post‐industrial society is nigh. Given current trends, another scenario can be developed for the future, an alternative that might well be termed the self‐service society.

Details

Planning Review, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0094-064X

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2003

Pratibha A. Dabholkar, L. Michelle Bobbitt and Eun‐Ju Lee

Self‐scanning technology is being tested by major supermarket chains as well as other types of retailers across the world, but the success of the new technology from the…

20623

Abstract

Self‐scanning technology is being tested by major supermarket chains as well as other types of retailers across the world, but the success of the new technology from the consumer’s perspective is not yet clear. This study investigates consumer reasons for both using and avoiding self‐scanning checkouts with a view to addressing these practitioner issues. In addition, the study advances theory on consumer motivation and behavior related to technology‐based self‐service in general. Factors driving preference or avoidance of self‐scanning checkouts include attributes of self‐scanners, consumer differences, and situational influences. Reasons for preference of other types of technology‐based self‐service over traditional service alternatives are also explored to determine motivational and behavioral patterns across service contexts. A combination of research methods is used to investigate these issues and offers richer findings than any one method used alone. Implications are discussed for managerial strategy as well as for future research.

Details

International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-4233

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2008

Lukas P. Forbes

This paper aims to focus on non‐internet‐based self‐service technologies through the presentation of failure and recovery strategies employed by service firms using self‐service

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on non‐internet‐based self‐service technologies through the presentation of failure and recovery strategies employed by service firms using self‐service forms of interaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs the critical incident technique using 508 customer responses to present nine failures and nine recovery strategies used by self‐service technology firms. It presents data on post‐recovery satisfaction levels and propensity to switch behavior. The paper also compares findings in the non‐internet self‐service technology context to findings from e‐tail and bricks and mortar settings.

Findings

Findings indicate that: non‐internet self‐service technology customers experience different types of service failure relative to traditional retail and e‐tail settings; non‐internet self‐service technology firms employ a different series of recovery strategies relative to traditional retail and e‐tail settings; and post‐recovery switching by customers can be high even with satisfying experiences.

Originality/value

This paper strengthens the existing failure and recovery literature by presenting data on the largest growing sector of the service industry, self‐service technologies, and the largest sector within self‐service technologies (non‐internet purchases). These findings will have value to traditional firms looking to expand to their channels in addition to firms currently experiencing customer dissatisfaction.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2021

Kanika Gupta and Sanjay Sharma

The advent of technology has played a crucial role in changing the landscape of the hospitality sector. One such technology is the adoption and installation of kiosks in hotels…

1740

Abstract

Purpose

The advent of technology has played a crucial role in changing the landscape of the hospitality sector. One such technology is the adoption and installation of kiosks in hotels. While some of the hotels have adopted and installed kiosks for self-services, the other hotels are still not very comfortable with the idea of self-service. This paper aims to explore the possibilities, challenges and issues that hoteliers face while dealing with self-service kiosks, it further investigates the customer’s perspective and its benefits to the end-user.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has assimilated data from hotel managers and executives that have deployed kiosks. This study involved the collection of primary data through structured interviews. Eight different hotels from the UK and India have been compared and analyzed to formulate subcategories to answer the research questions. A total of 200 customers from both the countries were approached to get the primary data; the customers were from the same hotel where the hotel executives and managers were interviewed.

Findings

The customers accepted Kiosks as easy to use, fast to run, fun to operate, but, lacking human interaction and counter language issues were simultaneously discussed. Kiosks have been emerging as self-service technologies in hotels and play a key role in reducing bottlenecks in hotel operations. The technology anxiety and counter service argument is merely a transition phase that will fade away gradually. However, the financial feasibility and the level of adoption depend upon the level of operations and the demographic characteristics of customers.

Research limitations/implications

The dependence of data from the person interviewed and their biases for answers, along with the trust and credibility of the data available online remain the biggest challenge. Increasing the sample size and more participation from different hotels would have made the study even more useful.

Originality/value

The research seeks to eliminate the gap in research by studying both the hotels' and the customers' perspective toward kiosks deployment in hotels. The results of the study would highlight the potential challenges being faced by hotel operations and opportunities they perceive in kiosks installation, therefore the results are very useful for hotels, hoteliers, academicians and students pursuing a career in the hospitality sector.

Details

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4217

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 November 2015

Johan Hagberg and Daniel Normark

– This study aims to follow the gradual transformation of consumer mobility in mid-20th-century Sweden in connection with the introduction of self-service retailing.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to follow the gradual transformation of consumer mobility in mid-20th-century Sweden in connection with the introduction of self-service retailing.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on an analysis of the magazine ICA-Tidningen, published by the major Swedish retailer ICA, for the period from 1941 to 1970.

Findings

The paper describes the transformation of consumer mobility as a set of interrelated changes that involved both retailers and consumers, the interrelationship between modes of transport and container technologies and how self-service not only transformed the interior of retail stores but also had more far-reaching implications.

Originality/value

When attempting to understand the reconfiguration of shopping practices in the 20th century, there is a tendency to focus on large infrastructural changes. These studies tend to overlook gradual, mundane and everyday translations. This paper contributes methodological tools and analyses that account for such mundane transformations.

Details

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-750X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 December 2020

Yun-Fang Tu, Shao-Chen Chang and Gwo-Jen Hwang

The present study aims, by adopting bibliomining, to analyse the borrowing and collection records in self-service libraries at mass rapid transit stations in northern Taiwan to…

Abstract

Purpose

The present study aims, by adopting bibliomining, to analyse the borrowing and collection records in self-service libraries at mass rapid transit stations in northern Taiwan to discover reader borrowing preferences and patterns.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study used data mining to analyse two years of book-borrowing information from self-service library stations; it made use of an association rule mining model and the bibliomining process to identify readers’ preferred books and to explore reader borrowing behaviours. In addition, the librarians’ perceptions of the proposed approach were also investigated.

Findings

The findings indicated that readers often borrowed books in the bibliographical classifications of Home economics; Medical sciences; Psychology; Commerce: administration and management; and Education in the self-service library stations. Based on the bibliomining results, 23 reader borrowing patterns as well as potential books favoured by readers were uncovered. In addition, the challenges of bibliomining and data mining applied to library operations are reported.

Originality/value

Among the studies on the application of self-service technologies in libraries, most examined the integration of the self-service system and investigated users’ opinions. The present study used borrowing records and collection records in self-service library stations to conduct bibliomining and to explore reader borrowing preferences and behaviours as references for collection development and book recommendation services.

Details

The Electronic Library , vol. 39 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 October 2018

Heini Sisko Maarit Taiminen, Saila Saraniemi and Joy Parkinson

This paper aims to enhance the current understanding of digital self-services (computerized cognitive behavioral therapy [cCBT]) and how they could be better incorporated into…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to enhance the current understanding of digital self-services (computerized cognitive behavioral therapy [cCBT]) and how they could be better incorporated into integrated mental health care from the physician’s perspective. Service marketing and information systems literature are combined in the context of mental health-care delivery.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey of 412 Finnish physicians was undertaken to understand physicians’ acceptance of cCBT. The study applies thematic analysis and structural equation modeling to answer its research questions.

Findings

Adopting a service marketing perspective helps understand how digital self-services can be incorporated in health-care delivery. The findings suggest that value creation within this context should be seen as an intertwined process where value co-creation and self-creation should occur seamlessly at different stages. Furthermore, the usefulness of having a value self-creation supervisor was identified. These value creation logic changes should be understood and enabled to incorporate digital self-services into integrated mental health-care delivery.

Research limitations/implications

Because health-care systems vary across countries, strengthening understanding through exploring different contexts is crucial.

Practical implications

Assistance should be provided to physicians to enable better understanding of the application and suitability of digital self-service as a treatment option (such as cCBT) within their profession. Additionally, supportive facilitating conditions should be created to incorporate them as part of integrated care chain.

Social implications

Digital self-services have the potential to serve goals beyond routine activities in a health-care setting.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates the relevance of service theories within the health-care context and improves understanding of value creation in digital self-services. It also offers a profound depiction of the barriers to acceptance.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 52 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

21 – 30 of over 5000