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Article
Publication date: 25 January 2024

Süleyman Çelik, Öznur Özkan Tektaş and Bahtışen Kavak

Service failures usually occur in front of third-party customers. Third-party customers react emotionally and behaviorally to service failure and recovery efforts aimed at focal…

Abstract

Purpose

Service failures usually occur in front of third-party customers. Third-party customers react emotionally and behaviorally to service failure and recovery efforts aimed at focal customers. However, there is a gap in the literature on how third-party customers react to a service failures incident and a recovery over another customer, depending on how socially close or distant they are from. This study investigates the effect of third-party customers' emotions on consumer forgiveness, negative word-of-mouth (WoM) and repatronage intentions in the service recovery process by comparing close and distant third-party customers.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilizes a 2 (social distance to the focal customer: close, distant) × 2 (service recovery: yes, no) between-subjects design. The authors used a scenario-based experiment to test the proposed hypotheses. A total of 576 respondents were involved in the study.

Findings

The results from the authors' scenario-based experimental study show that positive and negative emotions felt by distant third-party customers are higher than those of close third-party customers. In addition, the effect of positive emotions on customer forgiveness is more substantial for distant third-party customers. Third, moderated-mediation analysis indicates that social distance has a moderator effect only on the relationship between positive emotions and customer forgiveness.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the service literature by comparing socially close and socially distant third-party customers' reactions to service failure and recovery attempts.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2023

Soo Yeon Im and Sunhee Seo

This study aims to explore the role of restaurant experienscape in affecting diners' emotions and satisfaction with solo dining, considering the moderating role of solo dining…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the role of restaurant experienscape in affecting diners' emotions and satisfaction with solo dining, considering the moderating role of solo dining willingness and public self-consciousness (PSC).

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 403 Korean customers who had dined alone at restaurants in the past three months participated in this study. Structural equation modeling, including multiple group analysis, was conducted to examine the hypotheses.

Findings

The dining atmosphere influenced solo diners' positive emotions but not their negative emotions. Responses from other guests and the interactional fairness of employees affected solo diners' negative emotions but not their positive emotions. Food sensory influences both positive and negative emotions. This study found that PSC significantly moderated the effect of the dining atmosphere on positive emotions, and solo dining willingness significantly moderated the impact of food sensory on positive emotions.

Practical implications

This study suggests that restaurant managers should pay close attention to providing fair service to all customers by training and educating employees because the unfair treatment that solo diners receive from employees affects focal customers' negative emotions.

Originality/value

The experienscape model was applied to the solo dining context based on Mehrabian and Russell's (1974) stimulus–organism–response paradigm and Pizam and Tasci's (2019) experienscape concept, which reflects the growing trend in solo dining.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2023

Shameem Shagirbasha, Kumar Madhan and Juman Iqbal

Grounded in emotional dissonance and social presence theories, this study examines whether the characteristics of employee–customer interaction (frequency, routineness and…

Abstract

Purpose

Grounded in emotional dissonance and social presence theories, this study examines whether the characteristics of employee–customer interaction (frequency, routineness and duration) and emotional intelligence (EI) have an impact on emotional labor (surface acting (SA), deep acting and naturally felt emotions (NFE)) and whether the type of interaction (face to face, voice to voice and online) moderates this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey method was employed to collect data from employees working in hotels, customer care and e-booking services (n = 604). The model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

The study showed that EI was positively linked to deep acting and NFE but negatively associated with SA. Frequency of interaction had a negative relationship with deep acting and NFE but a positive association with SA. Duration of interaction (DOI) had a positive relationship with deep acting and NFE but a negative association with NFE. Routineness of interaction had a negative relationship with deep acting and NFE but surprisingly had a negative relationship with SA. Online interaction moderated the relationship between EI and deep acting.

Originality/value

This pioneering study examines the relationship between EI and characteristics of employee–customer interaction with emotional labor in the Indian hospitality context. While the association between EI and emotional labor has been studied, this study is unique in substantiating the moderating effects of interaction type and is among the first to do so empirically.

Details

Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-3983

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2024

Chih-Chin Liang and Annie Pei-I Yu

Impulse purchases are a phenomenon of interest in recent years that provides a high revenue stream for companies compared to planned purchases. Airports are a unique shopping…

Abstract

Purpose

Impulse purchases are a phenomenon of interest in recent years that provides a high revenue stream for companies compared to planned purchases. Airports are a unique shopping environment. Travellers usually need to arrive at the airport early and can only utilise limited time to shop at duty-free stores, which makes the shopping experience time-constrained and has the potential to make impulse purchases. The main purpose of this research is to create a model to examine whether “time pressure” and “hedonic shopping motivation” lead to impulse shopping through the formation of “positive emotion” in the context of airport duty-free shops.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in this study. The data collection for this study targeted individuals who had previously used airline services for international travel and visited duty-free shops at international airports. A total of 502 valid subjects participated in this survey.

Findings

The findings indicated that time pressure and consumers’ hedonic motivations have a positive impact on emotions. Positive emotions have a positive impact on the occurrence of impulse purchases. Music and light can moderate the impact of hedonic motivation on emotion but cannot reduce the influence of time pressure on emotion. Social factor significantly moderates the positive association between hedonic shopping motivation and emotion.

Originality/value

The research collected data from various international airports and social media, enabling the findings to be generalised.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 52 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2023

Yuanyuan Guo, Chaoyou Wang and Xiaoting Chen

This study aims to examine the relative effectiveness of functional and financial remedies in influencing customers' negative coping responses in the event of a data breach. It…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relative effectiveness of functional and financial remedies in influencing customers' negative coping responses in the event of a data breach. It also uncovers the different mediating roles played by customers' feelings of anger and fear in the process of data breach recovery. This study thus differs from the literature, which has primarily focused on the impact of financial compensation and apologies for service failures in face-to-face environments.

Design/methodology/approach

Two scenario-based experiments were conducted to empirically validate the model. The authors received 302 copies of the questionnaire, of which 269 were valid.

Findings

This study finds that functional remedies are more effective than financial remedies when sensitive information has been compromised, but there is no significant difference between the effectiveness of the two remedies when nonsensitive information has been compromised. In addition, functional remedies influence negative coping behaviors directly and indirectly; the indirect effect is achieved through the reduction of fear and anger. Contrary to the authors' expectation, financial remedies do not have a direct effect on negative coping behaviors; they can indirectly affect negative coping behaviors by reducing anger but do not affect negative coping behaviors by reducing fear.

Practical implications

This study provides key insights into how to manage customer reactions in the event of a data breach, suggesting the use of carefully designed recovery strategies. Companies must attend to customers' specific emotional responses to manage their negative coping behaviors.

Originality/value

This study extends the limited literature on data breach recovery actions by investigating the different effectiveness of functional and financial remedies in the event of a data breach. It also uncovers how functional and financial recovery strategies affect customers' negative coping behaviors by revealing the different mediating effects of fear and anger.

Details

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 July 2023

Soyeon Kim, MiRan Kim and Laee Choi

This study aims to develop and test an integrative model that examines the effects of customization and perceived employee authenticity on customer delight, which in turn…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop and test an integrative model that examines the effects of customization and perceived employee authenticity on customer delight, which in turn influences customers’ willingness to recommend (WTR) and willingness to pay a premium (WTPP) as outcomes in a hotel context. The moderating role of online review valence in this process is also examined.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a 2 (customization: low vs high) × 2 (perceived employee authenticity: low vs high) × 2 (online review valence: negative vs positive) experimental design. A total of 409 US consumers were recruited and randomly assigned to a hotel check-in scenario. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

Findings confirmed the role of customer delight in mediating customization and employee authenticity on WTR and WTPP. In addition, perceived employee authenticity was a stronger driver of customer delight for consumers exposed to negative online reviews than for those exposed to positive reviews.

Practical implications

The findings provide useful guidance in designing efficient service strategies for generating a delightful customer experience. Hotel practitioners should provide customized services and manage employees in a way that helps them deliver authentic services that achieve customer delight. Understanding that customer expectations formed through online reviews play a significant role in service evaluations, hotel managers make an extra effort to monitor online reviews and manage customer expectations.

Originality/value

Although existing research suggests that customer delight plays an important role in positive consumer outcomes, there is still potential space to explore the theoretical mediational mechanisms underlying this effect and the moderating effect on this relationship between customer delight and consumer responses. This study contributes by testing the moderating impact of online review valence and the mediating impact of customer delight.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Latifa Mednini and Mouna Damak Turki

Consumers' responses to service failures are influenced not just by company-related issues but also by one's ability to react to stressful situations. The aim of this research is…

Abstract

Purpose

Consumers' responses to service failures are influenced not just by company-related issues but also by one's ability to react to stressful situations. The aim of this research is to explore the emotional intelligence of brand haters and transform them into forgivers.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used two qualitative methods, namely in-depth semi-structured interviews with a total of 17 participants who have different emotional intelligence levels (high, medium and low) and projective techniques with 6 participants.

Findings

This study's results showed that consumers with high and medium emotional intelligence feel less hate toward a brand and are more likely to forgive it, whereas consumers with low emotional intelligence feel more hate toward a brand and are unwilling to forgive it.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is among the first to shed light on the importance of managing hate by consumers. Findings will help managers understand the importance of consumer personality in a management strategy and explain why some consumers forgive brands while others participate in anti-brand activities.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 62 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 October 2023

Jan Hendrik Blümel, Mohamed Zaki and Thomas Bohné

Customer service conversations are becoming increasingly digital and automated, leaving service encounters impersonal. The purpose of this paper is to identify how customer…

Abstract

Purpose

Customer service conversations are becoming increasingly digital and automated, leaving service encounters impersonal. The purpose of this paper is to identify how customer service agents and conversational artificial intelligence (AI) applications can provide a personal touch and improve the customer experience in customer service. The authors offer a conceptual framework delineating how text-based customer service communication should be designed to increase relational personalization.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a systematic literature review on conversation styles of conversational AI and integrates the extant research to inform the development of the proposed conceptual framework. Using social information processing theory as a theoretical lens, the authors extend the concept of relational personalization for text-based customer service communication.

Findings

The conceptual framework identifies conversation styles, whose degree of expression needs to be personalized to provide a personal touch and improve the customer experience in service. The personalization of these conversation styles depends on available psychological and individual customer knowledge, contextual factors such as the interaction and service type, as well as the freedom of communication the conversational AI or customer service agent has.

Originality/value

The article is the first to conduct a systematic literature review on conversation styles of conversational AI in customer service and to conceptualize critical elements of text-based customer service communication required to provide a personal touch with conversational AI. Furthermore, the authors provide managerial implications to advance customer service conversations with three types of conversational AI applications used in collaboration with customer service agents, namely conversational analytics, conversational coaching and chatbots.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2024

Jiayi Lyu, Cora Un In Wong, Zhuo Li and Lianping Ren

This study aims to understand how retailscape of pop-up stores could influence young Chinese tourists’ emotional response and their subsequent shopping intention in the context of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to understand how retailscape of pop-up stores could influence young Chinese tourists’ emotional response and their subsequent shopping intention in the context of luxury retailing.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative approach was chosen. Building on the theoretical framework of the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) theory, a pop-up store retailscape behavior model was developed to explore the effect of retailscape on young Chinese tourists’ emotional response and patronage intention in a luxury retail setting. In total, 226 structured questionnaires were collected onsite.

Findings

The multiple regression analysis reveals that a luxury pop-up store’s retailscape has a positive influence on young Chinese tourists’ emotional response, but it only has a partial influence on their patronage intention. In addition, the result suggests that young Chinese tourists’ emotional response positively influences their patronage intention in luxury pop-up stores.

Practical implications

The study reveals how retailscape influences behavior among the younger generation, and the results provide important references for the luxury retailers in future design and management of pop-up stores so as to attract and retain the interest of the younger generation.

Originality/value

This study puts retailscape effect under scrutiny in the context of luxury pop-up stores which attract young Chinese tourists, who are regarded as one of the major patrons supporting exclusive retail brands in the world. The stimuli element in the S–O–R model is, thus, reexamined in the context of luxury pop-up stores.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2024

Andreawan Honora, Kai-Yu Wang and Wen-Hai Chih

This research investigates the role of customer forgiveness as the result of online service recovery transparency in predicting customer engagement. It also examines the…

Abstract

Purpose

This research investigates the role of customer forgiveness as the result of online service recovery transparency in predicting customer engagement. It also examines the moderating roles of timeliness and personalization in this proposed model.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey study using retrospective experience sampling and a scenario-based experimental study were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

Customer forgiveness positively influences customer engagement and plays a mediating role in the relationship between service recovery transparency and customer engagement. Additionally, timeliness and personalization moderate the positive influence of service recovery transparency on customer forgiveness. The positive influence of service recovery transparency on customer forgiveness is more apparent when levels of timeliness and personalization decrease.

Practical implications

To retain focal customers' engagement after a service failure, firms must obtain their forgiveness. One of the firm's online complaint handling strategies to increase the forgiveness level of focal customers is to provide a high level of service recovery transparency (i.e. responding to their complaints in a public channel), especially when the firm is unable to respond to online complaints quickly or provide highly personalized responses.

Originality/value

This research provides new insights into the underlying mechanism of customer engagement by applying the concept of customer forgiveness. It also contributes to the social influence theory by applying the essence of the theory to explain how other customers' virtual presence during the online complaint handling influences the forgiveness of focal customers in order to gain their engagement. Additionally, it provides insight into the conditions under which the role of service recovery transparency can be very effective in dealing with online complaints.

Details

Internet Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000