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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the customer’s perception of customer-firm, customer-employee, and employee-firm fit and to assess how these fits impact the service experience.

The paper looks at the impact of fit on the service experience and focusses on three specific types of dyadic fit: customer-employee; customer-firm; and employee-firm. A conceptual model is presented, accompanied by a detailed development of the hypotheses. A sample of 447 consumers is used to empirically test the proposed model.

The analysis reveals the importance of fit and suggest a triadic relationship perspective is essential when designing for the service experience. Specifically, employee-firm fit is key to enhancing fit within the other dyads and providing a superior service experience.

The main implication is that this paper expands the investigation of fit by examining the interplay of multiple fits while also exploring how they affect the customer experience. The limitations are based primarily on methodology where the use of a survey to collect data rules out potential generalizations of true cause and effect while also potentially being subject to a common method effect.

Managers should consider adopting a triadic relationship perspective when designing for the service experience. A number of managerial implications are proposed and discussed.

Prior research has not explored the impact of fit among the customer-employee, customer-firm, and employee-firm dyads in one model on an important outcome such as the service experience. In addition, to show that customer-employee, customer-firm, and employee-firm dyadic fits are predictors of the service experience is novel.

This paper aims to develop a research model that proposes a relationship among customer power, psychological empowerment and voice behavior of frontline employees (FLEs). The model also suggests that managerial openness, as a result of the manager–employee interface, contributes by mediating the effect of customer power on psychological empowerment. As a result of the job characteristic–employee interface, task interdependence is suggested as a moderator in the relationship between psychological empowerment and voice behavior.

To analyze the data, a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling procedure using LISREL 8.5 were used. Next, the conditional process modeling was fitted to test the moderated mediation hypotheses. In this stage, the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating effect of task interdependence voice behavior were tested with bootstrapping methods.

The results showed a significant relationship between customer power and FLEs’ voice behavior, establishing psychological empowerment as an intervening mechanism. Thus, customer power can be a signal of appreciation for passive and job uncontrollability to service employees. The findings also suggested the mediating role of managerial openness, which delivered a negative effect of customer power on the FLEs’ psychological empowerment. Task interdependence enhanced the link between psychological empowerment and voice behavior.

The specific service sector chosen for this study was retail banks. Furthermore, the study was undertaken among the FLEs of banks in South Korea. Having FLEs self-report on managerial openness raises a general concern that those employees with little experience may not have fully understood whether a manager’s current behaviors are open-minded and empowering. Lastly, the perceptions of customer power, psychological empowerment, managerial openness, task interdependence and voice behavior that all came from FLEs naturally raises concerns about the influence of method bias in these results.

The significant negative and indirect relationship observed between the perception of customer power and employees’ voice through managerial openness and employees’ psychological empowerment suggested that the double deviation effect of customer power on employees’ psychological empowerment through the interface between customer and employee (customer power) and manager and employee (managerial openness). This study provides insight into the management of service customer–employee and manager–employee interactions to encourage employee psychological empowerment.

The main emphasis of the model is on the so-called voice behaviors that FLEs exhibit as an overall consequence of various service employee interfaces. The management of FLEs has been extensively discussed in the services marketing literature. However, few research studies have attempted to link and combine the effect of various interfaces to which employees are exposed on employees’ voice behavior. In this study, three interfaces that the FLEs are always exposed to were examined simultaneously: that of the employee and the customer (perceived customer power), the interface of the employee and the manager (managerial openness) and that of the employee and his or her job characteristic (task interdependence).

Although stress has become a prominent research theme in consumer behavior and occupational health, to the authors knowledge there is only one review on the relationship between consumer behavior and stress (i.e., when internal and external factors exceed an individual’s resources and endangering the individual’s well-being) and this was published 10 years ago. Further, research on occupational stress has yet to be fully integrated into the consumer stress literature. In this chapter, the authors attempt to advance research on consumer stress by a drawing on a satisfaction mirror framework which outlines that consumers and employees influence each other through a “mirror” where they positively and cyclically influence each other in a service environment. The authors argue that consumers and employees may likewise mirror each other in a negative cycle of stress and well-being depletion. First, the authors describe how stress is viewed in consumer behavior and marketing. Second, the authors review evidence that consumption serves as a form of coping with stress. Third, the authors discuss the role of consumption as a stressor that may drive consumer stress. Finally, the authors introduce the satisfaction mirror model and outline the bi-directional influence on increased stress and well-being depletion at the consumer–employee interface in service encounters. The model introduced in this chapter serves as a framework for organizing findings related to stress and well-being in the fields of consumer behavior and occupational health. In addition, the model serves as a springboard for developing propositions for future research. Ultimately, the authors hope this chapter both updates and builds upon previous findings on stress and consumer behavior, as well as grounds future research on stress and well-being at the intersection of consumers and employees.

Internal organisational aspects of service delivery from the employee's perspective have received some attention in the literature. However, there is a need for more detailed empirical research to explore the possible impacts of specific internal service factors (ISFs) on service quality. This paper seeks to consider the overall influence of customer‐employee interactions, and to discuss and test empirically the relative influence of five ISFs that interface with internal marketing strategies.

Empirical data were collected from a sample (n=202) of supermarket employees across a large metropolitan city. The data analysis used bivariate correlations, stepwise regression, and structural equation modelling.

The main research findings, from the employee perceptions of service quality, suggest that there are three main predictor variables, namely, service orientation, service role flexibility, and non‐standardised scripted behaviour. The most important internal service quality predictor variable is employees' service orientation attitude, followed by non‐standardised scripted service behaviour and third by the organisational policy to adopt and change (flexible) service roles.

The research needs to be expanded by investigating simultaneously the viewpoints about service quality by managers and actual consumers.

Retail marketing managers need to be mindful that ISFs have the potential to indirectly influence consumer perceptions through employee behaviours and perceptions of customers' needs. The five ISFs identified in this research can serve as a basis for differentiating a service brand.

The paper highlights the importance of five internal service success factors that influence service quality.

Explores aspects of the changing relationship between tourists and those working in the tourism industry. Gives a historical overview of the development of tourism and notes its change from élite to mass consumption. Considers aspects relating to the customer‐employee interface, particularly the aspect of “social distance”. Suggests that ideally this interface will be one based on mutual respect and equality and that the search for such a relationship will be a goal for the industry as it moves towards the next millennium.

Offers a fresh outlook for managing the delicate interaction between the customer and the contact employee in the service environment. Emphasizes that the quality of the customer‐employee interfacehas a great effect on customers′ perceptions of the quality and value of the service, as well as on their satisfaction. Suggests a model of how companies can improve this interface by treating employees ascustomers and customers as employees, thus developing lower cost and higher quality services and also higher levels of satisfaction on the part of both customers and employees. Recommends various steps for management to take.

Many have applied the concept of congruence or fit in the context of person‐organization, person‐environment and person‐person relationships and interactions. However, despite the significance of customer‐employee interactions and relations in a services context, no research has investigated the effects of congruence between a customer's self‐concept and employee‐image on important relational outcomes such as relationship satisfaction, loyalty to employees and satisfaction towards service provider. The paper aims to fill this gap in the literature and to investigate the effects of self‐employee congruence on customer satisfaction via the mediating effects of personal interaction, relationship satisfaction and loyalty to employees. The paper also seeks to investigate the links among personal interaction, relationship satisfaction and loyalty towards employees.

The paper uses a causal modelling approach and proposes a conceptual model after an extensive review of the literature related to consumer behaviour, organizational behaviour, relationship marketing and services marketing. The paper is based on a sample of 203 customers of bank users in Nigeria who completed a self‐administered questionnaire. The paper uses confirmatory factor analysis and SEM to analyse and confirm the conceptual model proposed in this research.

The paper demonstrates that self‐employee congruence is an important antecedent of personal interaction, relationship satisfaction and loyalty to employees each of which is in turn positively linked to customer satisfaction towards the service provider.

The paper discusses implications for service marketers and for retail banking sector and highlights the significance of self‐employee congruence for service design and delivery, advertising strategies and suggests future research directions.

The paper is first of its kind to discuss the effects of perceived similarities between customers and employees on some important relational constructs such as personal interaction, relationship satisfaction, loyalty towards employees and towards customer satisfaction.

The primary objective of this article is to investigate customer reactions to service employees with accents that differ from a non-native accent taking into account customer emotions.

This article reports on a study with a 2 (accent of service employee: Australian or Indian) × 2 (service employee’s competency: competent or incompetent) × 2 (customer’s affective state: positive or negative) between-subject experimental design to uncover the effects of service employees’ accent on customers’ reactions.

The findings revealed that hearing a service employee with a foreign accent was not enough on its own to influence customer responses. However, when the service employee is incompetent or the customer was in a negative affective state, a foreign accent appeared to exacerbate the situation.

While the findings indicate that accents are used a cue for customers to evaluate service employees, further research should also take service types, service outcomes, customer-service employee relationships, customers’ ethnic affiliation and ethnocentrism into consideration when examining the effect of accents.

Service managers need to be aware that accents will exacerbate perceptions of already difficult service situations. Providing competent service will help breakdown stereotypes and improve the acceptance of diversity at the customer–employee interface.

This article contributes to the service literature about service attributes and is particularly relevant to economies such as the USA, Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Australia where immigrants are a large part of the service work force.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and map competencies required by frontline employees to enhance guest experience in the hospitality industry, in the context of an emerging experience economy.

Secondary research through extensive review of relevant literature in the area of experience economy and hospitality management.

This study proposes a new construct of “Hospitality Intelligence” (HI) encompassing mainly Emotional Intelligence (comprising Interpersonal Intelligence and Intrapersonal Intelligence), Cultural Intelligence and Hospitality Experiential Intelligence dimensions.

Practitioners and HR professionals in the field of hospitality would find the Hospitality Intelligence construct useful in recruiting and training frontline employees, while educationists could use the findings of this study in designing curricula and pedagogical interventions for developing the right skill set for the hospitality industry.

This study proposes a competencies framework and develops a construct of Hospitality Intelligence required by frontline employees in the hospitality industry to elevate guest experience from a simple interaction to a memorable experience.

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to show how a company can improve the interface by treating employees as customers and customers as employees.

This article presents a conceptual model (reinforced with a review of extant literature and numerous examples) demonstrating the desirable consequences associated with the phenomenon we refer to as “trading places,” which occurs when organizations mix the treatment and roles of employees and customers.

Traditionally organizations have treated employees and customers as separate constituencies. Operations and human resource managers have developed their own approach to deal with employees (e.g. as “resources” to be utilized), while marketing managers have related to customers through somewhat different lenses (e.g. viewing customers as “prizes” to be won). Yet, in service organizations, we find that as employees assume more customer‐like roles and customers increasingly resemble employees, successful organizations are drawing from both approaches – treating employees more like customers, while treating customers more like employees.

As a conceptual piece, this article presents an alternative way of thinking about organizations' relationships with their employees and customers. Particularly relevant to service environments, it shows how organizations, employees, and customers all benefit when the “trading places” phenomenon is recognized.

The article updates the “trading places” perspective by reviewing relevant literature, providing a conceptual model, and illustrating the application of the approach with numerous examples.