Search results

The present research sought to analyze the effects of customer delight on both internal and external financial structures of publicly traded, service firms.

Primary (i.e. survey) and secondary (i.e. financial records) data sources were gathered. A total of 685 participants responded to one questionnaire focusing on hotels and another one focused on restaurants, both of which measured levels of customer delight and satisfaction. Financial data were gathered from Center for Research in Security Prices, CRSP/COMPUSTAT.

Results of MANOVA revealed that there was a significant difference in the net profit margin (NPM) based on customer delight. Canonical correlation results exposed a significant correlation between satisfaction and delight combined and the financial performance measures (net profit margin, cash flow margin, return on assets and b-beta) combined.

By delighting their customers, managers will achieve higher profit margins. However, these are not likely to result in improved cash flow margin or return on assets. The effects of COVID-19 can alter yearly returns; thus, longitudinal research is needed to continue testing for the effects on delight on financial performance.

The relationship between delight and financial measures had not been previously determined (notwithstanding a few studies using substitute measures for financial performance). The present study uses actual data from the financial filings to empirically test their relationship to customer delight.

This study uses relationship marketing theory to explore affective and calculative commitment as mediators in the delight–loyalty link. Furthermore, it investigates the role of perceived employee service delivery skills, perceived value and trust in the relationships between delight, affective commitment, calculative commitment and loyalty.

A descriptive research approach was applied, and the data were collected from 332 retail banking customers in an emergent market who are overall satisfied with their bank. A self-administered questionnaire collected data from 332 respondents who adhered to the stipulated requirements to participate in the study. These respondents were selected through purposive and convenience sampling. The constructs’ interrelationships were analysed via structural equation modelling. The measurement and structural models were also assessed.

Affective and calculative commitment and delight impact loyalty. Both affective commitment and calculative commitment were found to mediate the relationship between delight and customer loyalty.

The study enhances an understanding of the role of affective and calculative commitment in strengthening the delight–loyalty link from a relationship marketing theory perspective.

The study provides guidance to the retail banking industry in emerging markets on the importance of affective and calculative commitment in strengthening the delight–loyalty link. It further informs retail banks of the need to provide banking customers with products and service value that exceed their expectations to strengthen their future commitment and loyalty to their bank.

Guided by relationship marketing theory, the role of affective and calculative commitment in mediating the delight–loyalty link in an emerging market context is uncovered.

This study aims to investigate the impact of customers’ delight on the likelihood of frontline employees (FLEs) receiving expressions of gratitude from customers, as well as the subsequent effects on their customer-focused and coworker-focused behaviors. Additionally, it examines how customer orientation moderates the relationship between FLE’s likelihood of receiving customer gratitude expressions and their performance behaviors.

The study used a sample from a Canadian retailer specializing in the sale of artistic and creative materials for artists, crafters and hobbyists. Longitudinal data was collected through a survey administered to frontline employees, unit managers and customers, spanning 7 assessment waves over a 12-month period. In total, the data set comprised 1,609 individual observations and 3,533 customers nested within 35 business units. The hypotheses were tested by using a multilevel longitudinal modeling approach.

This research has yielded important insights. First, significant relationships emerged between enhanced customers’ delight and an increased likelihood of FLEs receiving expressions of gratitude from customers. Second, gratitude expressions received from customers were found to be positively associated with prosocial behaviors toward both customers and coworkers. Third, the findings indicate that the impact of receiving customer gratitude expressions on FLEs’ performance behaviors is more pronounced for employees with a high level of customer orientation.

This study highlights the importance of investing in relationship-building strategies aimed at enhancing customers’ delight. This can motivate customers to express their gratitude toward service employees and to elicit higher prosocial behaviors from employees.

This study offers theoretical insights into gratitude, customer behaviors and employee performance in the retail industry. A pivotal contribution of this study to marketing literature lies in its paradigm shift, redirecting attention from the traditional examination of firm-customer relationships to a nuanced exploration of customer–employee relationships.

This study explores how predictor variables (value congruence and customer–AI-assisted exchanges) lead tourism businesses to meet customer needs through contactless technology and enhance their willingness to pay more.

The research model was designed from the perspective of consumer-brand relationships and acceptance of AI device use. This study collected and analyzed 647 valid questionnaires using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.

The findings indicate that value congruence and customer-AI-assisted exchanges (CAIX) affect intimacy. Intimacy affects satisfaction and the willingness to pay more for contactless technological services. Moreover, brand trust and sensory brand experience play a role in moderating contactless technological services.

Effective interactions between customers and AI-assisted services significantly contribute to overall satisfaction. When AI systems can understand and respond appropriately to customer queries, needs, and preferences, they enhance customer experience and satisfaction levels, increasing overall customer satisfaction with AI services.

This study aims to investigate value co-creation, its antecedents (i.e. customer delight and place identity) and the consequences (i.e. satisfaction and revisit intention) at eco-hotels concerning sustainable practices.

Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyze the data collected from 562 guests surveyed online who had stayed and contributed to sustainable practices through interaction and collaboration with eco-hotels.

The results revealed that customer delight and place identity are critical antecedents of value co-creation, significantly influencing guests' intention to revisit. Further, value co-creation significantly influences satisfaction and revisits intention. Satisfaction significantly influenced revisit intentions. Moreover, customer delight was the most critical factor affecting value co-creation, followed by the path between value co-creation and satisfaction. Finally, the results confirmed the mediating role of value co-creation and satisfaction.

This research can support hotel managers in comprehending the motivating factors and outcomes of value co-creation among guests, allowing efficient hotel strategies to be planned and implemented. Managers should prioritize customer delight and place identity to maintain guests' involvement in value co-creation, resulting in satisfaction and a willingness to return.

This study contributes to the literature by tackling the scarcity of research on the significance of value co-creation, its drivers and outcomes at eco-hotels concerning sustainable practices within an emerging market context.

This study aims to apply the predictive processing theory to examine the influence of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotic performers on audience emotions and the audience’s resulting electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behaviors during tourism service encounters.

Using a quantitative research methodology, survey responses from 339 regular customers of performing arts in tourism destinations were analyzed. The respondents were recruited through Prolific, a professional data collection platform. SPSS 23.0 was used for the preliminary analysis, from which a research model to achieve the aim was proposed. SmartPLS 3 was used for partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the model.

Interactive and novel robotic performances significantly encouraged the consumers to share their experiences online, thereby enhancing eWOM. However, melodic resonance had no significant impact on eWOM intentions. The consumers’ emotional responses fully mediated the relationship of the novelty and interactivity of the performances to the consumers’ eWOM intentions but did not mediate the relationship of the musical elements to their eWOM intentions.

This study enriches the understanding of how AI-driven performances impact consumers’ emotional engagement and sharing behaviors. It extends the application of the predictive processing theory to the domain of consumer behavior, offering valuable insights for enhancing audience engagement in performances through technological innovation.

本研究旨在运用预测处理理论, 考察人工智能（AI）驱动的机器人表演对观众情感及其在旅游服务接触中的电子口碑（eWOM）行为的影响。。

采用定量研究方法, 分析了339名经常观看旅游景点表演艺术的常客的调查问卷。受访者通过专业数据收集平台Prolific招募。初步分析使用SPSS 23.0进行, 从中提出了实现研究目标的研究模型。使用SmartPLS 3进行偏最小二乘结构方程模型测试该模型。

互动性和新颖性的机器人表演显著鼓励消费者在线分享他们的体验, 从而增强电子口碑。然而, 旋律共鸣对电子口碑意图没有显著影响。消费者的情感反应完全中介了表演的新颖性和互动性与消费者电子口碑意图之间的关系, 但没有中介音乐元素与电子口碑意图之间的关系。

本研究丰富了对AI驱动表演如何影响消费者情感参与和分享行为的理解。将预测处理理论的应用扩展到消费者行为领域, 为通过技术创新增强观众参与度提供了宝贵的见解。

An AI concierge is a technologically advanced, intelligent and personalized assistant that is designated to an individual customer, proactively taking care of that customer’s needs throughout the service journey. This article envisions the idea of AI concierges and discusses how to leverage AI concierges in the customer journey.

This article takes a conceptual approach and draws insights from literature in service management, marketing, psychology, human-computer interaction and ethics.

This article delineates the fundamental forms of AI concierges: dialog interface (no embodiment), virtual avatar (embodiment in the virtual world), holographic projection (projection in the physical world) and tangible service robot (embodiment in the physical world). Key attributes of AI concierges are the ability to exhibit semantic understanding of auditory and visual inputs, maintain an emotional connection with the customer, demonstrate proactivity in refining the customer’s experience and ensure omnipresence through continuous availability in various forms to attend to service throughout the customer journey. Furthermore, the article explores the multifaceted roles that AI concierges can play across the pre-encounter, encounter and post-encounter stages of the customer journey and explores the opportunities and challenges associated with AI concierges.

This paper provides insights for professionals in hospitality, retail, travel, and healthcare on leveraging AI concierges to enhance the customer experience. By broadening AI concierge services, organizations can deliver personalized assistance and refined services across the entire customer journey.

This article is the first to introduce the concept of the AI concierge. It offers a novel perspective by defining AI concierges’ fundamental forms, key attributes and exploring their diverse roles in the customer journey. Additionally, it lays out a research agenda aimed at further advancing this domain.

This study aims to explore the influence of perceived value, enjoyment and novelty of fast-food chains’ smart retailing technology (SRT) on Filipino consumers’ attitude and loyalty.

Purposive sampling was used in identifying the respondents (N = 343). The participants were composed of consumers of the leading fast-food chains in the Philippines, where SRT using self-service ordering kiosks is being implemented. The hypotheses were explored using partial least squares path modeling, and predictive-causal was the study’s research design.

The results reveal that, among the factors, perceived enjoyment substantially contributes to the formation of favorable consumers’ attitude toward SRT. Moreover, perceived value was found to have a moderate effect on attitude while perceived novelty showed small impact. In terms of consumers’ attitude and loyalty, the two variables were found to have large positive and significant relationship. The moderation analysis shows that consumers’ attitude toward SRT has medium indirect effect on the relationship between perceived enjoyment and loyalty, while there is small indirect influence on the links between perceived value and loyalty, and between perceived novelty and loyalty.

As more and more fast-food establishments are adopting the use of SRT via self-ordering kiosks, the present study is the only study in the Philippine context that explores how perceived value, enjoyment and novelty affect consumers’ attitude and loyalty.

Smart banking services (SBS) are critical for developing countries to achieve developmental goals. The success of SBS is dependent on the considerable perceived customer experience of provided services. Based on technology adoption studies, this study aims to model smart customer experience (SCE) outcomes by investigating the relationships between SCE, customer gratitude, continuance intentions and positive word-of-mouth (P-WOM).

The current research included 384 bank clients as participants. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

According to the findings, SCE directly increases customer gratitude, continuance intention to adopt smart services and P-WOM. Customer gratitude enhances continuance intentions and P-WOM. Additionally, customer gratitude mediates the relationship between SCE, continuance intention and P-WOM. Finally, the findings revealed that customer innovativeness and optimism play a substantial moderating impact among the variables studied.

This is the first research to include all of these variables. Furthermore, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study of these linkages in the banking sector of emerging nations.

By conducting a longitudinal study, this study aims to investigate how the role of hotel attributes in destination competitiveness changed through the stages of pre-, amid and recovery from the crisis.

First, the latent Dirichlet allocation method was used to identify hotel attributes from 15,137 online reviews, and then a sentiment analysis was performed to determine tourist satisfaction with the subject attributes. Second, separate asymmetric impact competitor analyses were conducted for the three stages of the crisis, and their results were compared with understand how the role of the hotel attributes changed throughout the crisis.

The results revealed that the impacts of hotel attributes on tourist satisfaction and destination competitiveness differed significantly at each stage of the crisis.

This research expands the existing literature by offering valuable insights by elucidating the changing characteristics of hotel attributes at each crisis stage. The results extend the body of knowledge in destination management by providing evidence on the validity of asymmetric impact competitor analysis.

To fully understand the impact of a crisis (e.g. COVID-19) on destination competitiveness with a focus on the hotel sector, this research conducted a longitudinal study that covers three stages of the crisis (i.e. pre-, amid and post-crisis). Moreover, unlike previous studies, this research considers the asymmetric relationships between service attributes and overall tourist satisfaction, as well as competitors’ information.