The authors examine the influence of culture on the measurement of service quality and satisfaction in dentists’ office settings. Respondents from the United States, Canada, and Japan participated in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment in which the authors manipulated both expectations (high/low) and service performance (high/low) in a series of scenarios. With partial metric invariance, latent mean comparisons revealed that regardless of expectations, Japanese respondents reported lower quality perceptions and satisfaction ratings when performance was high and higher satisfaction ratings when performance was low than did their U.S. and Canadian counterparts. Thus, there is some evidence that Japanese consumers are more conservative in their evaluations of superior service but are less critical (or more forgiving) of inferior service. The authors also discuss managerial implications and future research directions.

Purpos e-This study examines the applicability of key measures of service quality and customer satisfaction in a cross-cultural setting, first establishing measurement equivalence and then investigating the impact of culture on these measures. Des i gn/ M et hodol ogy-Using scenarios involving a visit to the dentist's office, respondents from Germany, Japan, and the U.S. participated in a 2 x 2 factorial experiment in which the authors manipulated both expectations (low/high) and service performance (low/high). Fi ndi ngs-Regardless of expectations, when performance was low, the low-context respondents (U. S. and Germany) perceived lower quality than did the respondents from the high-context country (Japan), but gave higher quality ratings than did the Japanese respondents when the performance was high. Pract i cal I m pl i cat i ons-The finding of this study highlight the necessity of considering culture when interpreting customer satisfaction ratings. O ri gi nal i t y/ Val ue-This research adds credence to the paramount role culture plays in consumers' ratings of perceived service quality and customer satisfaction.

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The purpose of this article is to suggest ways to use interactive technology in the classroom and to examine the educational outcomes of doing so. This technology will be related to teaching marketing courses and the international marketing module within international business courses. It has been used in many diverse types of educational settings and could be integrated into any classroom in any discipline. The use of this technology and the study of its outcomes was conducted at an AACSB-accredited midwestern university with 177 business students, both graduate and undergraduate. The findings of this study indicate that use of this interactive technology in the classroom increases student participation, recall and understanding of the material, team-building skills, and enjoyment of the course and the learning process itself. Suggestions for other courses in the marketing curriculum in which this technology might be used effectively are offered.