Journal of Service Research RSS feed -- OnlineFirst Articles

The Impact of Service System Design and Flow Experience on Customer Satisfaction in Online Financial Services

Ding, D. X., Hu, P. J.-H., Verma, R., Wardell, D. G. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:24:40 PST

Prior research examines customer satisfaction in retailing and e-commerce settings, yet online financial services have received little research attention. To understand customer satisfaction with this fast-growing service, this study investigates the role of flow experience, a sensation that occurs as a result of significant cognitive involvement. The study examines how service system characteristics affect the cognitive states of the flow experience, which determines customer satisfaction. The flow construct and total experience design suggest a structural model that is empirically tested using responses from a large sample of online investors. In support of the model and most of the hypotheses it suggests, the empirical results clarify the important antecedents and consequence of flow experience in online financial services and suggest the viability of using a dual-layer experience construct to investigate customer satisfaction. These findings can help researchers and service providers understand when, where, and how flow experience is formulated in online financial services.

Toward a Provider-Based View on the Design and Delivery of Quality E-Service Encounters

Cho, Y. K., Menor, L. J. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:24:40 PST

The advent of electronic-based service (e-service) transactions has resulted in numerous operational challenges for service providers. Extending previous service management insights, this article offers a provider-based framework identifying four overarching types of online interactions useful for advancing understanding on the design and delivery of quality e-service encounters. This framework allows for examination of the amount of service intervention, the degree of user participation, and the type of user connection underlying online interactions for both Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 applications and platforms. The article discusses how the quality of each e-service encounter type—informational, self-directive, intervenient, and intensive—requires, from a systems quality and operational standpoint, the management of three elements (i.e., target market, concept, and delivery system) underlying the firm’s e-service operations strategy. The article proposes promising areas in e-service encounter quality research where further investigation of design and delivery issues is urgently needed. One immediate implication stemming from this framework is that there is likely no single best strategy or approach to designing and delivering effective (i.e., quality) online moments of truth. What is required is the apt configuration of strategic e-service elements underlying each distinct e-service encounter type vis-à-vis critical e-service system quality dimensions (e.g., manageability, reliability, usability).

Cultural Moderation in the Formation of Recovery Satisfaction Judgments: A Cognitive-Affective Perspective

Schoefer, K. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:24:39 PST

The present study places the formation of recovery satisfaction judgments in a cultural context and empirically assesses their susceptibility to cultural moderation. Specifically, the study investigates whether an individual consumer’s cultural value orientation along the Hofstede dimensions of individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term/short-term orientation moderates the cognitive-affective relationships that underlie the formation of recovery satisfaction judgments. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the study’s findings indicate that these cognitive-affective relationships are indeed subject to cultural moderation. Specifically, the findings document that individuals’ cultural value orientations significantly influence the impact of the cognitive (i.e., perceived justice-based) and affective (i.e., emotion-based) antecedents to recovery satisfaction. This supports the notion that conceptually accurate models of recovery satisfaction formation should incorporate culture as a moderating influence. Importantly, however, cultural moderation explains only an additional 2% to 4% of the variance in recovery satisfaction in the present study and none of the variance in positive/negative emotions. Accordingly, the managerial significance of variations in individuals’ cultural value orientations appears to be only minor, and firms may not necessarily stand a much better chance of implementing more appropriate recovery actions if they are sensitive to cultural differences in their customer base.

Service Performance-Loyalty Intentions Link in a Business-to-Business Context: The Role of Relational Exchange Outcomes and Customer Characteristics

Briggs, E., Grisaffe, D. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:31:01 PDT

This study evaluates the relationship between service performance and customer loyalty intentions in a business-to-business context. Specifically, the third-party logistics industry is used as a contextual setting for the research. A conceptual model is developed based on literature in social exchange theory and business buying behavior. The model suggests that service performance directly influences both social (i.e., trust) and economic (i.e., value) relationship outcomes and that these outcomes positively influence customer loyalty intentions. However, in contrast to existing business-to-consumer research, mediation analysis supports the hypothesis that the relationship between service performance and customer loyalty intention is fully mediated by relationship outcomes. Further analyses indicate that characteristics specific to business customers—organizational relationship norms and industry competitive intensity—have important moderating influences. Collectively, the findings imply that business-to-business service managers should move beyond simply tracking the performance of their services. Customer perceptions of relationship trust and perceived facilitation of economic outcomes also should be measured, since these are more proximal to loyalty outcomes. Further, service managers should leverage customer knowledge to optimize service delivery. Different service strategies should be implemented based on customers' relational orientation and industry competitive dynamics. The article concludes with logical directions for future research.