Does Ethnic/Cultural Dissimilarity Affect Perceptions of Service Quality?

Zhan

2016

JSM

2016),"The effect of cues on service quality expectations and service selection in a restaurant setting: A retrospective and prospective commentary"If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to address a long-standing gap in current research on intercultural service encounters, by exploring the direct and indirect roles of four personal cultural orientations (PCOs) [independence, interdependence (INT), risk aversion (RSK) and ambiguity intolerance (AMB)]. Design/methodology/approach -A 2 ϫ 2 between-subjects experimental design with customers in two countries (Australia and China) using scenarios to manipulate service outcome (failure or success) and photos of foreigners as customer or employee to prime perceived cultural distance (PCD). Findings -Customers with higher (vs lower) independence perceive greater interaction comfort, service quality and satisfaction (SAT) and are affected to a lesser extent by PCD and service outcome, but those with higher (vs lower) RSK or AMB perceive lower interaction comfort, service quality and SAT and are affected more strongly by PCD and service outcome. Research limitations/implications -The authors used an "experimental" design with "imaginary" service scenarios to collect data in "two" countries using "four" PCOs for greater control in this paper, but all of these choices may restrict the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications -Service managers need to look beyond visible cultural differences, such as ethnicity, nationality and language, and focus more on the invisible cultural differences in customs, values and norms, as reflected by the four PCOs in this paper. Originality/value -The authors extend prior research on intercultural service encounters by exploring the moderating effects of PCOs on the influence of service outcome and PCD on interaction comfort, service quality and SAT. Being a busy evening, the food arrives after almost 30 min, and all this time, the customer keeps calling the waiter to find out about the order After the food is served, the customer realizes that it is the wrong order, but the waiter argues with the customer to prove that the food is exactly as per the order Service successThe waiter manages t...

Section: Satisfactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of personal cultural orientations in intercultural service encounters

Zhan

2016

JSM

“…Customer satisfaction drives other important outcomes such as repeat purchase and loyalty (Seiders et al, 2005). Customers generally report lower level of satisfaction in intercultural service encounters because of the perceived gap in the ability of the service providers in understanding and meeting customer expectations (Etgar and Fuchs, 2011;Sharma et al, 2012;Ueltschy et al, 2007).…”

Section: Satisfaction (Sat)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer ethnocentrism vs. intercultural competence as moderators in intercultural service encounters

Journal of Services Marketing

Zhan

2015

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by 540409 [] For AuthorsIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

“…With rapid increase in international travel and migration in recent years, there is a rise in the number and importance of intercultural service encounters (ICSEs), which involve interactions between customers and employees from different cultures (Teng, 2011;Etgar and Fuchs, 2011;Wang and Mattila, 2010). In fact, in 2010 alone, about 980 million tourists traveled outside their home country, spending about US$919 billion (UNWTO, 2012) and about 214 million migrants lived outside their countries of birth (UNDESA, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Service role and outcome as moderators in intercultural service encounters

Journal of Service Management

Tam

Kim

2015

2015),"Perceptions are relative: An examination of the relationship between relative satisfaction metrics and share of walletIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to introduce a comprehensive framework incorporating service roles (customer vs employee) and outcomes (failure vs success) as moderators in the process by which perceived cultural distance (PCD) affects customers and employees in intercultural service encounters (ICSEs). Design/methodology/approach -The authors used a 2×2×3 between-subjects experimental design with Chinese undergraduate students, manipulating service role (customer and employee), outcome (failure and success) and PCD (low, medium and high). Findings -Compared to service employees, customers perceive higher cultural distance and lower interaction comfort (IC), service quality and satisfaction; and stronger negative moderating effect of PCD in ICSEs. Compared to service success, failure results in lower IC; perceived service quality and satisfaction, and these effects are stronger for customers (vs employees).Research limitations/implications -The authors used shorter versions of all the scales to minimize participant fatigue and to increase their involvement along with an experimental design with imaginary service scenario, both of which may restrict the generalizability of the findings.Practical implications -Service managers should focus on customer education and employee training to reduce the negative impact of PCD and prevent service failure rather than try to improve service quality and satisfaction beyond customers' expectations. Originality/value -The authors extend prior research by exploring the moderating effects of service role (customer vs employee) and outcome (success vs failure) on the direct and indirect effects of PCD on IC, service quality and satisfaction. , "Tourists' perceptions towards and satisfaction with service quality in the cross-cultural service encounter: implications for hospitality and tourism management",