Effects of retail employees' behaviours on customers' service evaluation

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to test a conceptual model of the effects of customer and service orientation behaviours of individual retail employees on individual customers' perceptions of service encounter quality, service quality, value, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions.Design/methodology/approach -The sample (n = 271) was customers of a supermarket in Central India, and they completed questionnaires following mall intercept. To test the hypotheses, structural equation modelling using LISREL 8.7 was employed.Findings -1) service and customer orientation behaviours are positively related to service encounter quality and service quality, 2) service encounter quality is positively related to service quality and customer satisfaction; 3) service quality is positively related to value perceptions and customer satisfaction; and 4) customer satisfaction is positively related to retail customers' behavioural intentions. However, value is not related to customer satisfaction. Research limitations/implications -More research is needed on customer perceptions of value innon-Western contexts and service evaluation frameworks in other cross-cultural contexts Practical implications -Retail managers need to train or select retail personnel that are able to perform their roles in a service oriented and customer oriented way, and value does not appear to be as important to Indian retail customers as it is to Western retail customers.Originality/value -This study extends current service evaluation frameworks by including service orientation and customer orientation as antecedents, and it analyses an Indian retail context.

Implikasi Humor Dan Peran Layanan Karyawan Garis Depan Terhadap Kepuasan Pelanggan

“…Konsekuensinya, sikap dan perilaku dari karyawan selama berinteraksi dengan pelanggan bisa memengaruhi perceived service quality pelanggan serta customer satisfaction (Lovelock & Wright, 2002;Jayawardhena & Farrell, 2011). Oleh karena itu tidak mengherankan apabila riset dan praktik pemasaran jasa terkini memberi perhatian yang besar pada peran karyawan di service encounter (Jayawardhena & Farrell, 2011) dalam Implikasi Humor dan Peran Layanan Karyawan Garis Depan Terhadap Kepuasan Pelanggan 251 meningkatkan persepsi pelanggan terhadap kualitas jasa.…”

“…Oleh karena itu tidak mengherankan apabila riset dan praktik pemasaran jasa terkini memberi perhatian yang besar pada peran karyawan di service encounter (Jayawardhena & Farrell, 2011) dalam Implikasi Humor dan Peran Layanan Karyawan Garis Depan Terhadap Kepuasan Pelanggan 251 meningkatkan persepsi pelanggan terhadap kualitas jasa. Kepuasan (satisfaction) adalah lebih banyak memainkan perasaan seseorang, bisa rasa senang atau kecewa.…”

Exploring the UK high street retail experience: is the service encounter still valued?

“…Tangibles are clearly a major point of interest in retail (representing both the goods purchased, the appearance of service staff and the servicescape in which transactions take place), but customer impressions of store experience have traditionally depended also on the quality of their interactions with staff (Farrell et al, 2001;Jayawardhena and Farrell, 2011) and these contribute significantly to overall retail experience quality. Teixeira et al, (2012, p.366) who suggests that customers have specific 'customer experience requirements' and that the conventional Parasuraman et al, (1988) service quality framework, with its substantive focus on affective quality attributes -responsiveness, empathy and assurance -is highly pertinent, not least because these attributes resonate strongly with customer beliefs concerning the nature of the personal relationships that are relevant to the traditional retail experience (Bienstock et al, 2003;Fowler et al, 2007) It is interesting to note, though, that the idea of 'experience' can be interpreted in different ways.…”

“…The literature implies that the service orientation of retail employees will impact on the overall quality of service delivery (Jayawardhena and Farrell, 2011) but the retail experience, in general, can also be indirectly impacted by the nature of the goods on offer; the price at which those goods are sold; and the economic and social climate pertaining at the time. Retail activity does not exist within a vacuum (Pal et al, 2006) and although the literature suggests the key determinant of retail service quality is the service encounter, there is a lack of research on how this relationship is affected by changing market environments.…”

“…As differentiation through goods becomes increasingly difficult to achieve (Reinartz and Ulaga, 2008) interaction between retail staff and customers becomes increasingly important (Gremler and Gwinner, 2008), as this represents the primary means by which retailers establish relationships with customers (Bolton et al, 2007;Jayawardhena and Farrell, 2011).…”