PurposeThis study investigates the role of source familiarity in moderating the effect of service adaptive behavior (SAB) on customer satisfaction. Applying the accessibility–diagnosticity framework and situated cognition theory as the theoretical basis, this research hypothesizes that when customers are familiar with the source that provides the service (i.e. brand familiarity for Study 1 and personal familiarity for Study 2), customer satisfaction responses to SAB would be more moderate than when customers are not familiar with the source. Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses.Design/methodology/approachTwo experiments manipulating SAB and the brand name familiarity (Study 1) and personal familiarity with the service staff (Study 2) as the source familiarity were conducted. Customer satisfaction as a function of source familiarity was measured to test the hypothesis that source familiarity moderates the relationship between SAB and customer satisfaction.FindingsCompared to unfamiliar sources, familiar sources generated a more moderate response in customer satisfaction as a function of SAB. High familiarity with the brand and service staff induced top-down, memory-based processing that overrides external stimuli as the basis of satisfaction judgment; bottom-up, stimulus-based processing relying on SAB for judgment kicked in only when the source familiarity is low.Practical implicationsFrom a practical point of view, this study indicates the importance of SAB, especially for brands with low awareness, and alludes to the comparative importance of relationship building in service delivery processes.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by validating the role of contextual factors in influencing the impact of SAB on customer satisfaction.
Using the concept of psychological resourcefulness, this study investigates the relationship of meaning of work and service adaptive behavior (SAB). An empirical study, with 269 online panel participants, showed that relationship orientation and extra-role performance mediate the effect of meaning of work on SAB, and that organizational identification positively moderates the effect of relationship orientation on SAB. Post hoc interviews were further conducted to understand why organizational identification negatively moderates the effect of extra-role performance on SAB. This study contributes to academic understanding of how psychological resources shape SAB, and to management practice of designing training programs to develop SAB.
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