Motivating Customers to Adhere to Expert Advice in Professional Services

Abstract

This study focuses on the mechanisms by which professional service providers effectively influence customers to adhere to their expert guidance and advice. Eliciting customer adherence is a critical concern for professional service firms since customers of these need-based (rather than want-based) services are often reluctant to adhere, and nonadherence can result in serious negative consequences to customer well-being and firm resource utilization. The study examines this scenario by developing a conceptual framework that integrates the following three theoretical areas: professional services theory, advice utilization theory, and social cognitive theory. The framework proposes associations between professional service provider actions and customer reactions, including adherence to expert advice, adherence intentions, and organizational resources needed to serve the customer (time cost and monetary cost). The study empirically tests the hypothesized relationships based on professional service provider-customer (physician-patient) interactions in a large health care organization setting using both primary survey data and objective, longitudinal customer data encompassing a 48-month period. Results indicate that advice giving frequency and focus on negative consequences impact customer outcomes and the effects are moderated by perceived customer efficacy and service provider efficacy. The findings shed light on the underlying dynamics of customer adherence to advice in professional service settings and provide guidance as to how that adherence can be effectively elicited.

Health Care Customer Creativity

“…However, it has also been found that the degree to which the individual customer complies with and manages their illness is related to their mental view of how severe their situation is (Alogna 1980). This is supported by Seiders et al (2015), who found that focusing on negative consequences during medical consultations increased customer compliance with treatment. Therefore, even if the motivation is not internal, the customer's perception of how severe their situation is, in combination with direct consequences, is likely to have a positive impact on their motivation.…”

“…Several studies have suggested that elements connected to the specific environment influence health care customer practices (e.g., De Greef et al 2011;Varekamp, Verbeek, and van Dijk 2006;Seiders et al 2015). For example, De Greef et al (2011) found that physical environment features such as walkability, training equipment, and environmental aesthetics influence physical activity among persons with diabetes.…”

“…For example, De Greef et al (2011) found that physical environment features such as walkability, training equipment, and environmental aesthetics influence physical activity among persons with diabetes. Others have found that aspects of communication between health care practitioners and health care customers influence customer practices (Seiders et al 2015;Street et al 2009;Dubé, O'Donnell, and Novack 2000;Moldovan-Johnson et al 2014). Tansik and Routhieaux (1999) found that music in hospital waiting rooms impacts customer stress levels.…”

Trust Me, I’m a Doctor: Understanding Clinician’s Experiences of Service Separation and Trust Formation in Telehealth

“…Recently, there has been varied research in the services marketing literature predominantly from the perspective of the customer, spanning the motivation of customers to adhere to expertise of clinicians in medical contexts (Seiders, Godfrey Flynn, Berry and Haws, 2015), looking into customers' experiences of failure in high-risk service settings (Tuncay Zayer, Otnes, and Fischer, 2015) and how customers can co-produce value in medication compliance with clinicians (Spanjol, Cui, Nakata, Sharp, Crawford, Xiao and Watson-Manheim, 2015). Fewer studies have examined the health care services contexts from the perspective of the service provider, save for a few notable exceptions (see Dagger et al, 2013;Day, Sinha and Thirumalai, 2013;Meyer Goldstein and Ward, 2004).…”

Health in exchange for privacy : the adoption of personalised nutrition advices

“…Although personal information remains at the heart of personalised nutrition, the information exchange process suggests that service attributes such as communication mode, service scope, and service frequency also contribute to consumers intention to adopt personalised nutrition. Consumers may for instance be reluctant to disclose DNA to a service provider that limits himself to email communication (Metzger, 2004) or perceive information disclosure as more valuable when nutrition advice is provided more than once (Seiders, Flynn, Berry, & Haws, 2014). Since consumers' preference for and reaction to service attributes may differ from country to country (Pullman, Verma, & Goodale, 2001), to consolidate widespread adoption of 74 personalised nutrition it is important to identify which service attributes amplify or mitigate adoption intention across different countries.…”