Integrating Chinese cultural philosophies on the effects of employee friendliness, helpfulness and respectfulness on customer satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the main and interactive effects of three employee attributes, namely, employee friendliness, helpfulness and respectfulness, on customer satisfaction in Mainland China. Design/methodology/approach A 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design enabled an eight-scenario study depicting a service experience manipulated by employee friendliness (high/low), helpfulness (high/low) and respectfulness (high/low). Findings It is found that the effect of respectfulness has the strongest impact on customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction generated by helpfulness is higher when respectfulness is high rather than low, while the interaction between helpfulness and friendliness is not found, even though helpfulness exerts a stronger effect than friendliness on customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is also maximized when all three positive interpersonal attributes all jointly presented. Interestingly, the absence of respectfulness tends to trigger a negative effect, while the display of friendliness results in a positive effect. Research limitations/implications Beyond the joint positive effects on service outcomes, different interaction patterns reveal that the display of friendliness is desirable and beneficial to enhance interpersonal outcome. However, the communication of respect is crucial, and, as such, managers and employees need to strive for a good balance on how to demonstrate these behaviours in critical moments such as service recovery. The findings from relative and interactive effects of three employee attributes are new in the literature and provide significant theoretical and managerial contributions for both researchers and managers. Originality/value This study takes the first step in decoding the cultural meaning of employee attributes through integrating Chinese traditional philosophy, Li (i.e. politeness), into a specific service setting by examining its comparative effects with other attributes.

Engaging customers in value co-creation or co-destruction online

“…How employees respond greatly influences customer interaction, called the "moment of truth" in managerial terminology. As empathy and helpfulness are directly linked to intrinsic motivation, as well as employee competency in performing a job (Liu et al, 2016), they are critical factors for determining the outcomes of service encounter moments of truth. About 50 per cent of the participants used words and phrases such as "understand my problems", "caring" and "pay special attention to my concerns" in their described critical incidents.…”

Customer perceptions of frontline employees’ extra-role helping behaviors

“…FLEs usually represent the firm during service encounters, making them an integral part of service delivery (Keh et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2016). Thus, FLEs play critical roles in influencing customers' perceptions of service outcomes and firm effectiveness (Bettencourt and Brown, 1997;Bove et al, 2009).…”

“…In consumer research, warmth and competence perceptions have been shown to influence customers' attitudes and behaviors such as their satisfaction, purchase intention, word of mouth, loyalty and brand perceptions (Aaker et al, 2010;Castro et al, 2012;Keh et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2016). For example, customers' warmth and competence inferences operate differentially in customer-employee relationships depending on the salient communal versus exchange norms, which in turn influences their behavioral intentions (Scott et al, 2013).…”

The Role of Service Providers’ Resilience in Buffering the Negative Impact of Customer Incivility on Service Recovery Performance

“…In this context, resilience and customer orientation (CO) represent interesting variables, since they can be enhanced through specific trainings [9,10]. To date, the majority of research has focused on customer perceptions [11], whereas only a few studies have analyzed this topic from the service provider perspective [12]. To date, only a few studies have examined the direct association between CO and SRP, with previous investigations on this topic predominantly concentrating on organizational-level CO [13][14][15].…”