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Consumers share the physical environment with other consumers in various service settings. The presence of other consumers is a critical part of the service experience and can influence consumer behavior. What is the underlying impact of fellow customers in service settings? To address this research question, we examine how the demographic (age, race, gender, and income) similarity of other consumers in a service setting impacts one’s attitude and behavior. Specifically, we examine consumers’: (i) intention to return, and (ii) expenditure. Analysis of a large database (216,082 consumer visits to 236 restaurant brands in the United States and Canada) suggest that age, gender and income similarity between the focal customer and other customers increases intention to return. Furthermore, results indicate that age and income similarity among customers increases customer expenditure. However, race and gender similarity among customers decreases customer expenditure. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

The study applies the spillover effect and complexity theories to examine the relationship between customers' service experience at the airports and their destination choice. Symmetrical and asymmetrical methods are proposed to test this relationship to reveal the complexity theory underlying the spillover effects. Symmetrical testing is manifested in structural equation modelling and regression analysis whereas the asymmetrical method in fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The data were collected from departure passengers in multiple airports in Australia and India. The results from symmetrical and asymmetrical testings differ significantly. A positive spillover effect is confirmed; however complex relationships are shown between customers’ service experience at the airports and their destination choice. Discussion and implications of the study findings are presented to conclude this paper.

Customers are critical actors in the service ecosystem, with their presence and interaction influencing service delivery and consumption. The interactions between customers in service settings can play an important role, with fellow customers having the potential to impact a focal customer's service experience, evaluations, and subsequent outcomes. Yet research on customer-to-customer interactions within the service encounter is limited. This research has examined the effect of congruency (incongruency) in fellow customer characteristics on focal customer outcomes across two studies. In study one, congruence in customer characteristics is shown to be a critical aspect of the service experience that can affect focal customer outcomes. In study two, status enhancement is shown to plays an important role, enhancing the effect of congruent fellow customer characteristics and mitigating weaker focal customer outcomes that result from incongruent customer characteristics. Importantly, these findings differ by the level of service consumption involvement. Findings present important implications for managers and frontline employees. In particular, regarding the importance of understanding, and potentially managing, congruency in customer characteristics; which can allow favorable responses to the service experience.

Based on a review of multidisciplinary literature, this paper explores the potential links between foodservice provision on university and college campuses and students’ wellbeing. The paper contends that on-campus foodservice provision contributes to positive student experiences, which can improve their overall wellbeing. It is argued that the majority of existing research on university foodservice has focused either on satisfaction with products, services or service environments, or on the nutritional intake of students consuming on-campus food, including factors shaping their eating habits and their health implications. Research considering interactions between student wellbeing, food and drink has focused primarily on eating whilst at university (i.e. enrolled on a programme of study) rather than eating in university (i.e. accessing food on campus). Given the relative absence of literature on this topic, the paper draws on insights from co-workplace design, service experience and hospitality management to identify areas for further research and constructive interventions.

Within the broader field of consumer experience of services, this paper addresses the impact of the size of a group of consumers sharing the same meal experience in a restaurant. This research is based on the quantitative analysis of sales receipts from 2753 restaurants tables. Multinomial logistic regression models and variance analysis show that the individual spend per guest depends on the number of guests per table. They also reveal that the proportion of prix-fixe menus ordered by table (vs. a-la-carte) is mostly maximized for meals taken as a couple and minimized for meals taken alone, depending on restaurant settings.

Drawing upon the appraisal theory, this study proposes and tests a conceptual model to delineate customers’ evaluative process of disruptive customer behaviors in a shared service environment (e.g., theme parks, airplanes, restaurants). Using a scenario-based online experiment, two sets of data were collected from U.S. customers and analyzed by a series of regression analyses. Findings suggest that customers go through a systematic evaluative process of primary appraisal (e.g., congruence and relevance) and secondary appraisal (e.g., cognitions and emotions), which results in the development of coping behaviors (e.g., active and passive coping). Cognitions are found to have direct influences on passive and active coping. Perceived powerlessness, perceived betrayal, and perceived identity threat are identified as critical cognitions. Negative emotions are found to result in active coping. Primary appraisal (e.g., congruence and relevance) either directly affects coping behaviors, or indirectly through cognitions and negative emotions. Theoretical and managerial implications are further elaborated.

This research examines the relationship of tourists' perceptions and relational quality with their environmentally responsible behaviors. Data was collected at a variety of times and days over ten weeks from visitors (n = 568) exiting a tourist destination located in central China. Perceived service quality provided by employees at a destination was found to positively impact value perceptions, environmental commitment, and tourist environmentally responsible behavior. Value perceptions positively impact tourist satisfaction, environmental commitment, and tourist environmentally responsible behavior. Tourist satisfaction and environmental commitment were found to fully mediate the relationship of the value obtained from visiting a destination, as perceived by tourists, with environmentally responsible behavior. Multiple mediation analysis confirmed two paths: 1) perceived employee quality to value perceptions to service experience satisfaction to tourist environmentally responsible behavior; and 2) perceived employee quality to value perceptions to environmental commitment to tourist environmentally responsible behavior.

Literature claims that frontline employees (FLEs) who identify strongly with brands and organizations are more likely to make decisions that are aligned with the objectives of brand (Kimpakorn and Tocquer, 2009) and organization (Smidts et al., 2001). This claim is based on studies of general FLE identification and behaviors, and coheres with an implicit assumption in marketing literature that FLE identification levels are stable, with predictable behavioral outcomes. However, it is unknown whether the claim applies to specific instances of decision-making. This article is a first step toward testing that claim. A self-report survey was used that asked retail FLEs to think of a difficult situation they faced recently while serving a customer, and the factors they considered in resolving the situation; and then asked about general levels of brand- and organizational-identification. The stated likelihood of considering brand- and organization-factors was unrelated to general brand- and organizational-identification, but was related to service experience. This study suggests that: (a) FLE brand- and organizational- identification should be viewed as less stable (or more labile) than currently assumed in marketing literature, and that general levels of identification may not transfer to some specific situations of decision-making; (b) employees can distinguish between organization and brand identities; and (c) researchers studying retail FLE identification using survey methods should incorporate robustness checks to deal with lability of identification.

The arts are labelled an important driver of value co-creation. Research suggests that businesses can translate the arts into action using the potency of art forms. Film is one of these art forms available to businesses that are willing to draw value from employing arts-based initiatives and approaches. Film as an art form, as well as its technological evolution, is opening up new perspectives for the service industry, also for designing and managing services. The technique of service blueprinting, developed in the 1980s, has since been applied and improved. Nevertheless, the conventional service blueprinting technique does not properly capture and visualise the customer's service experience. To date, the art form and medium of film has not been suitably conceptualised and integrated into the method of blueprinting of service experiences. This conceptual paper addresses this gap and showcases how digital film can be used for the development of a film-based service experience blueprinting technique to make service issues more comprehensible and service redesign more customer focused.

This special issue of the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services contains a set of 12 articles that were selected after several rounds of evaluations. Some of these papers are from an international conference on retailing and service experience that took place in Marrakech, Morocco, on April 24–26, 2017. The articles primarily cover topics related to new developments in online retailing, in-store mobile advertising, mobile applications, social media platform use, and psychophysiological applications in both offline and online retailing.

The paper evaluates the perceptions of Turkish restaurant managers and customers towards service robots. The sample includes 26 managers and 32 customers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that robots are suitable for dirty, dull, dangerous and repetitive tasks. Customers have mostly positive attitudes towards robots while managers – mostly negative. However, respondents agree that robots improve service quality. A mixed service delivery system based on human-robot collaboration is perceived as the most appropriate. Customers are willing to pay more for the robotic service experience. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed as well.

Self-efficacy is an important factor determining an individual's intention to use digital devices. In particular, self-efficacy with digital devices is significant for older adults as it not only affects their intention to use but may also improve their overall quality of life. However, little research has sought to identify antecedent factors that can enhance digital self-efficacy in older adults. This study focuses on music service experience using digital devices, which is a preceding factor of self-efficacy. It aims to identify the relationship between the experience of using digital music services and self-efficacy, and examines the mediating role of both enjoyment and anxiety in this relationship. To address the research questions, we collected and analyzed survey data from 623 Koreans aged over 60 years. As expected, digital music service experience was significantly related to self-efficacy, and both enjoyment and anxiety were found to be significant mediators of this relationship. The findings revealed the relation between the experience of using digital music services, affection, and self-efficacy, making it possible to derive practical suggestions for encouraging older adults to use digital devices.

With the innovation of elastomeric bearings in the mid-1950s steel bearings lost their interest and significance both in research and development and subsequently even in application. Steel bearings were gradually abandoned in bridges, followed by the technical literature and design standards. However, a great number of steel bearings remain today in service world-wide and will pose their particular challenges in the future. To the author’s knowledge, just in Sweden, high strength stainless steel bearings still exist in no less than some 650 bridges. In recent years, a large number of such bearings have failed with an alarmingly high frequency in Sweden during a period of six to twenty years after installation making them a serious maintenance cost issue. After a brief summary of the history of high strength stainless steel bearings, the paper reviews service experience of such bearings in Sweden and elsewhere. Accompanying finite element analyses were performed in order to gain insight into the likely failure mechanism. Finally, this comprehensive review leads to a conclusion that identifies the causes of the failures occurred and makes some recommendations. Although previous investigations of the stainless steel bearings have not been able to clearly identify the cause(s) of the failures occurred, it is found that the failures primarily occurred due to initiation of cracks through stress corrosion cracking followed by fatigue crack growth requiring a certain stress range and a sufficiently large number of cycles until final failure ensued through sudden and instable fracture after fatigue growth to a critical crack size.

E-government (E-Gov1) services provide new opportunities to citizens by allowing them to use government services (paying electricity bill, e-filing, e-ticketing, get information about government policies & schemes etc.) anytime from anywhere irrespective of geographical location and releases citizens bound by government official hours. Experience plays an important role to change users' intention to adopt, that impacts their behavior and attitude too. The aim of this study was to investigate how citizens experience e-Gov services and how that experience influences their behavior. The study also investigates how users value e-Gov services. The study has used a qualitative approach involving 31 citizens of India, where e-Gov services are still at an early stage. The findings highlight the extent to which citizens are moving from traditional ways of using government services to using it electronically. The study also takes into account the effect of these technological innovations in government settings from a participant's perspective. The implications for researchers and practitioners are then discussed, with emphasis on government need to develop competent e-Gov services. Explored how citizens experience e-government services.E-government service experience changes users' behavior.Positive e-government experience creates value for citizens.Citizens have varied experience with e-services of different levels of government.E-services are not sophisticated enough to provide a satisfactory experience.

The aim of this paper is to enhance the knowledge and understanding of service experience dimensions in tourism and hospitality industry. It introduces management principles that are applied to the context of tourism and hospitality in relation to managing service experience. This paper examines the concepts of service experience and its impact on tourists. Moreover, the role of staff with the tourists’ expectations will be explored as staff behaviours and attitudes have a direct impact on tourist satisfaction. This research is taking a hermeneutical approach by reviewing of literature regarding service experience in tourism and hospitality industry. The findings revealed that service experience should be properly managed by tourism and hospitality firms through understanding the needs of tourist expectation, tourist satisfaction, tourists’ culture and staffing. To conclude, this study has addressed the dimensions of tourism and hospitality service experience by using a conceptual approach.

Previous studies address consumers' emotions as an endogenous consequence of the service experience and assume that consumers base their decisions to forgive on the service situation's features; however, they rarely mention the role of the emotions that people might be experiencing, for reasons unrelated to the service failure itself. The current study thus considers a foundational but rarely examined human experience in business settings, awe, as well as its prosocial effect in service encounters. Incidental awe might alleviate the negative impacts of a service failure and enhance consumer forgiveness, through self-diminishment processes. Using four scenario-based experiments, referring to four types of service failures (outcome, process, controllable, and uncontrollable failures), this study tests for the positive effect of awe on consumers' inclination to forgive service failures and the mediating role of the small self in this effect. The present research thus enriches understanding of consumer forgiveness due to incidental emotions, which offers marketers some insights into how they might leverage methods that affect consumers' incidental emotions to encourage consumer forgiveness in service failures.

There has been considerable research in the area of hedonic and utilitarian values derived from the shopping experience, but a paucity of research focused specifically on values related to the service expected and delivered in this context. The purpose of this exploratory research was to develop an initial factor structure related to hedonic and utilitarian service dimensions as a first step in a scale development process. Factor structure was analyzed across four different product categories and two shopping dimensions. The results reveal that hedonic and utilitarian value exists for the overall retail service experience, for retail service across different types of product/category choices and also for shoppers on each end of the more holistic hedonic-utilitarian value continuum for the activity of shopping.

Most previous research has examined the direct relationship between service quality (SQ) and favorable behavioral intentions (FBI), neglecting the important role of emotional satisfaction (E-SAC). E-SAC is viewed as a crucial indicator in enhancing the relationship between SQ and FBI. It also assists the service provider in higher education to build long-term relationships with students. Thus, the main objective of this research is to examine the relationship among SQ, E-SAC and FBI. This research was conducted at Malaysian Public Universities. The online questionnaire was distributed to 381 international students following the stratified random sampling. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique using AMOS software was performed to test the relationship among SQ, E-SAC and FBI. The finding reveals that E-SAC mediates the relationships between SQ and FBI with large effects size. This research also discusses the theoretical and practical implications as well as the direction for future research.

Service experience model stipulates the importance of service experience in increasing satisfaction, price acceptance, revisit intentions, etc. It has been extensively tested and validated in hotel management studies. However, the online service experience which, in these days, precedes the physical service experience has not be considered together in most hotel service experience studies. In hotel management literature, studies on online experiences are largely segregated from physical service experience model. In this study, prior online experience model is proposed which includes online experience preceding the physical service encounter, and a survey is administered. Result indicates the strong influence of online experience as a leading construct of the service experience model in hotels. Online experience strongly conditions the customers’ perception of physical service experience and, also, provides good ground for price acceptance. Interestingly, the influence of physical service experience on price acceptance seems to be rather alleviated with online experience, indicating the important role the online experience plays in managing customer perception on hotel service experience. Hotel management needs to pay close attention to their customers’ online experience beyond simple esthetics as the online experience seems to influence all the subsequent components of hotel service model.

Artificial intelligence (AI) permeates in service organisations as a tool to enhance operational efficiency and improve customer experience. Reports show that most consumers prefer human interactions with service employees. Drawing on this observation, the current study examines how customers' service experiences with employees and AI influence customer engagement and loyalty. Customers’ emotional intelligence is proposed as a moderator between service experience and customer engagement. The study was conducted with hotel customers in Australia. The results show that whilst both service experience with employees and AI are significantly related to customer engagement and loyalty, only certain dimensions make significant unique variances in the outcome variables. The findings indicate that customers prefer employee service. These service experiences also have significant partial mediation effects on customer loyalty. Emotional intelligence has a significant moderation effect on customer engagement. Discussion of these findings and implications derived from this study concludes this paper.

During a service experience, consumers often encounter numerous workers seeking tips. For example, restaurant customers may face implicit tip requests from a parking valet, lounge musician, bartender, hostess, sommelier, waiter, and/or busboy. This raises questions about how the tips given to one worker depend on the performances of their co-workers and/or on the tip amounts previously given to those co-workers. The answers to these questions have implications about the role of affective, self-perception, licensing, and resource budgeting processes in tipping, about the fairness of different tip distribution schemes, and about decisions regarding how many different service workers managers should allow to accept tips. This paper empirically examines these questions for the first time in two natural field experiments conducted by a restaurant magician. Data indicated that: (i) servers got larger tips when the magician performed at their customers’ tables, and (ii) the magician (but not the servers) got substantially more in tips when he gave customers a souvenir card. The latter findings imply that the size of tips customers gave the magician had no impact on the size of tips they gave their server. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed along with directions for future research.

Restaurateurs often use sensory, nostalgic, and brand descriptions to influence a customer’s perceptions. This research suggests that descriptive food names can influence customers’ warmth and competence impressions regarding their impending service experience. The replications of the experiments across the two menu contexts (entree vs dessert) indicate that customers view a restaurant with sensory and nostalgic food names as offering warmer impending services compared to a restaurant with general names. Also, customers view a restaurant that utilizes brand names as providing more competent impending services than a restaurant that utilizes general names. However, there was a different pattern observed for the effects of sensory names on consumers’ warmth-related impressions in the dessert menu selection context. Further, this research proposes that warmth and competence can drive different magnitudes of anticipated satisfaction and willingness to pay more. Perceived warmth served a more important role in anticipated satisfaction than did perceived competence. Conversely, regarding willingness to pay more, perceived competence acted as a more significant factor than did perceived warmth.

The key to excellent service delivery is to ensure harmonious interactions between service actors. Therefore, in the event of service failure incidents, an understanding of the roles and interactions of these service actors is critical to achieving positive service outcomes. This research addresses the question: How do interactions between customers and these service actors (human staff/automated technological interface/fellow customer) influence their service experience following a service failure? We draw on role theory and answer this question via three experimental studies. Findings show that customers evaluate their service experience less favourably when receiving service recovery from fellow customers rather than firms (human staff and service robots). Furthermore, a firm’s instrumental recovery, rather than informational recovery, leads to a more favourable service evaluation, although this effect is absent when service recovery was given by fellow customers. Findings provide insights into the role of each actor in determining customer service evaluation.

By adapting Brunswik's lens model and the mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics (MDA) framework, this study empirically investigated how perceptions of the game features (mechanics), influence game-challenge reactions (dynamics) and playfulness (aesthetics); these influences affected service experience evaluation. The findings revealed that locatability, navigability, and controllability exert positive effects on game-challenge reactions, whereas navigability and nostalgia had positive effects on feelings of playfulness. Furthermore, the relationship between game-challenge reactions and playfulness was determined to be nonrecursive, and both of these factors positively influenced service experience evaluation.

The research's purpose is to identify the stakes of collaborative redistribution platforms for brands and to understand the influence of their intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics on behavioral intentions. A quantitative study was conducted among 214 individuals who had already made an online second-hand purchase. Results show that loyalty intentions to collaborative redistribution platforms has an impact on brand loyalty intentions. The effect of satisfaction towards platform service experience on brand loyalty intentions is mediated by platform loyalty intentions. Platform's characteristics don't have the same influence on platform and brand loyalty intentions. Managerial recommendations are proposed according to these findings.

In previous research, MVAS subscribers have been regarded as technology users. By adopting the service-dominant logic perspective from the service management discipline, this study proposes and empirically tests a model integrating both technology user and service consumer perspectives, emphasizing the role of service experience in MVAS continuance. The findings show that both technology excellence and service experience are principal determinants of MVAS continuance intention. Moreover, this study proposes the second-order factor structure of service experience and demonstrates the mediating role of service experience on the relationship between technology excellence and MVAS subscribers' continuance intentions. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The evaluation of non-aligned multiple flaws is required in various Fitness-for-Service codes. For non-aligned parallel cracks, on-site inspection needs to decide whether they should be treated as coalesced or separate multiple cracks for Fitness-for-Service. Criteria and standards for the adjustment of multiple nonaligned cracks are very different from one source to another in the existing literature. And those criteria and standards are often derived from on-site service experience without rigorous and systematic verification. Based on this observation, the authors previously reported on the interaction between an edge and an embedded parallel crack in 2-D scenarios. Since crack configurations detected using non-destructive methods in the real world are generally 3-D in nature, the study of 3-D interaction of non-aligned flaws is deemed necessary in order to obtain more practical guidance in the usage of rules speculated in Fitness-for-Service. In this study, the 3D interaction between a corner flaw and a non-aligned parallel surface flaw in an infinitely large plate is investigated to correlate better the criteria and standards from various resources in recommending the usage of those standards for the purpose of Fitness-for-Service and to classify them as either conservative or non-conservative.

This chapter highlights the importance of considering affect-based customer evaluations of services specifically influenced by the sequence of moments or episodes within a service experience. Research from the behavioral sciences has offered many insights that shed light on how customers perceive a sequence of events and how customers make decisions. This chapter offers a comprehensive review of the foundational behavioral research related to the following service sequence effects: the peak event, peak placement, trend, spread, end, and duration. Knowledge of these sequence effects can be applied to enhance the design of customer experiences. Two examples of service design studies are presented to illustrate the impact of the sequence of service.

Background: The use of the radial approach for diagnostic cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary interventions varies among different interventional cardiology centers in the world. We describe the trends in the use of this approach over the past 14 years at a tertiary hospital.Methods: Consecutive coronary procedures performed from 1999 to 2013 at a single center, in patients aged ≥ 35 years were identified. Age, gender, resource provider (Public or Private Healthcare System) and the complexity of the procedure (diagnostic or therapeutic) were retrospectively analyzed.Results: 103,253 procedures were included. The Brazilian Public Healthcare Service (SUS – Sistema Único de Saúde) was the resource provider in 77% of the cases. Mean age of patients was 62.2 ± 11.3 years and 58% were male. The radial approach was used in 6,402 (6.2%) procedures, showing a significant rise over time, which was more evident when analyzed comparatively for the six timepoints of service experience: 0.2%; 0.6%; 3.1%; 2.1%; 6.9%, and 24.4% respectively (p < 0.01). Even larger percentages of radial approach were observed when only the procedures performed by the SUS and diagnostic cardiac catheterizations were taken into account. There were also changes in the profile of vascular access, even though smaller, in the Private Healthcare System.Conclusions: We demonstrated progressive changes in the profile of the use of access routes for diagnostic cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary interventions at a large center over time. These data are consistent with the global trend and are significantly robust, especially when the last sextile is analyzed.RESUMOTendências da Utilização da Via de Acesso Transradiai em Mais de Uma Década: A Experiência do InCorIntroduco: A utilização da via radial para a realização de cateterismo cardíaco diagnóstico e intervenção coronária percutânea varia entre os diversos centros de hemodinâmica. Descrevemos as tendências do uso dessa via de acesso ao longo dos últimos 14 anos num serviço terciário.Métodos: Foram identificados procedimentos coronarianos consecutivos realizados de 1999 a 2013, em um único centro, em pacientes com idade ≥ 35 anos. Dados como idade, sexo, fonte provedora de recursos (Sistema de Saúde Público ou Saúde Suplementar/Privado) e complexidade do procedimento (diagnòstico ou terapêutico) foram retrospectivamente analisados.Resultados: Foram incluídos 103.253 procedimentos, dos quais o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) foi o provedor de recursos em 77% dos casos. A média de idades dos pacientes foi 62,2 ± 11,3 e 58,8% eram do sexo masculino. A via radial foi utilizada em 6.402 (6,2%) dos procedimentos, apresentando ascenSão significativa ao longo do tempo, mais evidente quando analisada comparativamente nos seis períodos de experiência do serviço: 0,2%, 0,6%, 3,1%, 2,1%, 6,9% e 24,4%, respectivamente (p < 0,01). Porcentuais ainda maiores do uso da via radial foram encontrados, restringindo-se aos procedimentos realizados pelo SUS e quando apenas os cateterismos cardíacos diagnósticos foram contabilizados. Houve também mudança no perfil da via de acesso, ainda que de menor monta, no setor de Saúde Suplementar/Privado.Conclusões: Demonstramos a progressiva modificação do perfil de utilização das vias de acesso para a realização de cateterismo cardíaco diagnòstico e intervenção coronària percutânea de um centro de grande porte ao longo do tempo. Esses dados são condizentes com a tendência mundial e de significativa robustez, principalmente quando analisado o último sextil.

As the demand grows for customized services, so too the management of those experiences becomes more important. This study examines the relationship between service environment, customer predisposition and service experience evaluation. Based on data derived from 366 visitors to two theme parks in Hong Kong, a link was found between the servicescape and tourist evaluation through the moderating effects of customer predispositions. Consequently, both the substantive and communicative aspects of the servicescape reliably predicted visitors' evaluations. In addition, a visitor's predisposition to fantasize and/or participate was found to influence the ability of servicescape elements to shape a favorable service experience. Theoretical contributions of this research are elucidated. Moreover, managerial implications related to servicescape design, promotion strategies and service experience enhancement are discussed.

Since eWOM provides a rich source of objective information about products or services, it has become one of the major ways in which consumers collect information about items they are interested in buying. However, the problem of eWOM overload makes it difficult to effectively collect this information, and may have adverse effects on their actual purchase behavior. eWOM content is characterized by unstructured text formats, oversimplified expressions, and newly coined phrases (textspeak), and these all contribute to the challenges that arise when analyzing eWOM. This study thus proposes an eWOM analysis method for analyzing eWOM, which may lead to a more effective method for analyzing eWOM content, extracting both positive and negative appraisals, and help consumers in their decision making. At the same time, the method proposed in this study can also be utilized as a tool to assist companies in better understanding product or service appraisals, thus translating these opinions into business intelligence and as the basis for product/service improvements.

This note describes how a Customer-Satisfaction-Strategy Map (CSSM) can be used to derive and implement a customer-focused strategy in banks. The CSSM links strategic areas to overall customer satisfaction, which in turn is linked to outcomes spanning intentions, behaviors, and financial results. Using three case studies, we describe the various components of a CSSM, its use for strategic planning and implementation, as well as for managing key outcomes for customers, employees, and investors. The cases illustrate the versatility of a data-rich, measurement methodology — survey measures, multivariate statistical analysis, outcomes analysis — to create and implement the CSSM approach. The approach should benefit community, regional, and national banks.

It is argued that favorable customer service experiences are crucial for the success of a company’s offering, and research on the subject is growing rapidly. However, instruments for measuring serv ...

Continuous improvement in managing customer relationships is a necessity for companies wishing to remain competitive in today's global marketplace. The two studies presented herein respond to this need by developing and testing a new nomological net that features social presence and its moderators as antecedents to service satisfaction. Study 1 discovers that when service experiences are positive, social presence enhances service satisfaction. Study 2 examines the interaction between service experience valence, social presence type and self-construal prime. The results show that when an interdependent self-construal is primed, social presence (both in-group and out-group) increases service satisfaction (dissatisfaction) during a positive (negative) service encounter, whereas, when an independent self-construal is primed, social presence exerts little impact on service satisfaction. Managers can benefit from these findings by considering the impact of social presence as they design their servicescapes.

This paper explores the anticipations consumers have before service experiences. Consumers think ahead about future service experiences and may foresee problems or discomfort. This research examines the strategies consumers engage in to minimize the impact of these anticipated problems or discomforts. Qualitative interviews and the critical incident technique with a content analysis provide the tools of this study. In Study 1, planning and preparation, avoidance and adjustment, and seeking support emerge as three problem-solving behaviors. In Study 2, the same three problem-solving behaviors emerge, while a fourth category, gathering information, also appears. In addition, worry, as an emotional response to perceived risk, provides understanding to service anticipation issues. Social risk plays a particularly important role as well.

Introduction The USA hCG Reference Service has been dealing with cases of persistent low levels of hCG and gestational trophoblastic diseases for 10 years. Here we present the complete experience. Methods Total hCG in serum and urine was measured using the Siemen's Immulite 1000 assay. Hyperglycosylated hCG, nicked hCG, free s-subunit and s-core fragment were measured using microtiterplate assays with antibodies B152, B151, FBT11 and B210, respectively. Results The USA hCG Reference Service has identified 83 cases of false-positive hCG, 71 cases of aggressive gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD), 52 cases of minimally invasive GTD, 168 cases of quiescent GTD and 22 cases of placenta site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT). In addition, 103 cases of pituitary hCG have been identified, 60 cases of nontrophoblastic tumor, 4 cases of inherited hCG and 2 cases of Munchausen's syndrome. This is 565 cases total. Multiple new methods are described and tested for diagnosing all of these disorders. Conclusions The USA hCG Reference Service experience shows new methods for detecting multiple hCG-related disorders and recommends new approaches for detecting these hCG-related disorders.

Adaptive customization systems are common in the delivery of e-service. However, consumers vary in their reaction to these systems. We introduce computer-mediated customization tendency (CMCT), a composite individual difference variable that reflects a consumer's personal preferences for designing and interacting with adaptive online environments to create valuable e-service experiences. To measure CMCT, we developed a formative index composed of need for control, technology innovativeness, and aesthetic appreciation. The results show CMCT influences adaptive online behavior and the perceived value of the adaptive e-service experience. In addition, customization-prone and customization-averse consumers differ in how they perceive the costs, benefits, and overall value of the experience.

The carbon fibre composite overlays (patches) installed on a Royal Australian Navy frigate to inhibit the recurrence of superstructure fatigue cracking have been in service for 15 years now. The service life these composite repairs have accumulated is now sufficient for the ship to have gone through several complete maintenance cycles. The ship has also had a major upgrade/modification programme and been exposed to a full range of environmental conditions while it has served on its many active deployments. This paper examines the success of this repair methodology in the light of ship owner’s expectations. These expectations have two major aspects which are addressed here. The first is the effectiveness of the composite repair in restoring the strength and function of the damaged structure, the cost and timeliness in effecting that repair and the disruption incurred prior to and during the repair. The second aspect to determining the success of the composite repair is more long term. This comprises the durability and repairability of the composite repair itself, including the availability of clear, objective, and documented criteria for inspecting the repair in future years and authorising its continued service. Furthermore, the ease with which the repair itself can be removed and replaced to facilitate subsequent maintenance work or modifications to the parent structure, and the ability to survey the parent structure behind the repair all make up this second facet. Unfortunately, this aspect is less obvious to the repair team but quickly becomes apparent to the ongoing custodians of the structure. These custodians are also the ones most likely to be authorising the repair method to be used for similar damage in the future and so they are important stakeholders to keep ‘on side’. This paper reviews the service history of the carbon fibre overlays since their installation and comments on both the short and long term success of the repair methodology.

In this research, it is mentioned about proficiency and infrastructural problems of using technology by the teachers who serve for the schools which belong to primary school department of North Cyprus Ministry of National Education and Culture. The sampling of the research includes 349 primary school teachers who serve in 25 different primary schools of whole North Cyprus. A survey was handed out to the teachers to obtain the necessary data. In the first part of the survey, some questions about proficiency and use of technology are asked to the teachers. In the second part of the survey, some questions about infrastructural problems related with using technology in educational institutions. Obtained findings evaluated in SPSS 16 software. In the results and findings, it is understood that there are some significant differences in survey of using technology according to educational level and service experience (year), equality between teacher who can use computer and teachers who can’t, low proficiency in using technology by teachers during technology integration in education. Through the obtained findings, it is resulted that deficiency of equipment is primary infrastructural problem during technology integration process in education.

Extant literature has pointed at how process and outcome of service encounters impact the overall service evaluation. Little has been known about how individuals process these two elements (process vs. outcome) and evaluate them. We draw theoretical insights from Construal Level Theory and propose that individuals assign asymmetric weights to the two elements of service encounters based on the Construal Level associated with the context of the service experience. We test our propositions with real consumer reviews posted on an online portal and find support for the same. We provide theoretical and managerial insights.

Designing services that deliver memorable personal experiences is a science and an art that is poorly understood. Borrowing from the masters of managing performances, the theatre industry, we examine the process for staging plays. Based on our study, we draw inferences that can help service experience managers in a variety of settings create more memorable face-to-face service encounters. To this end, we illustrate seven steps managers should follow to ensure service experience success.

While reward programs have been widely used as a means to engender customer loyalty, it is not clear if the ends are justified. Some researchers argue that we do not fully understand the mechanism underlying reward programs and how it affects consumer acceptability of such programs. In this study, we examine two variables; timing (immediate vs. delayed) and type (direct vs. indirect) of rewards in two service conditions (satisfied vs. dissatisfied). We conduct the experiment in two service settings and the results indicate that when consumers are satisfied, they prefer delayed, direct rewards (of higher values) to immediate, direct rewards. However, when consumers are dissatisfied, they prefer immediate, direct rewards to delayed, direct rewards (of higher values). Interestingly, the preference for direct over indirect rewards is apparent only if the rewards are delayed (for the satisfactory service experience) or immediate (for the dissatisfactory service experience). © 2006 New York University.

The application of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to determine the impact of special protection schemes (SPS) failures in a power system is described in this paper. The application of AHP reduces time and effort in locating the most and least vulnerable SPS as it integrates an expert's service experience in the field and probability tools. Its major advantage is that can be used by persons who have little field experience. The 179 bus Western States Coordinating Council (WSCC) system was chosen as the power system to illustrate this technique. Each generator site is assumed to be equipped with a SPS that is capable of tripping generation. The objective of the project is to study the impact of SPS misoperations due to hidden failures in the SPS at the most critical bus locations. Such failures would cause the most severe problems. This bus or ‘site’ could then be a candidate for installation of redundant supervisory control measures in an attempt to avoid the worst-case scenario.

This paper describes a project that teaches principles of accounting and Microsoft Excel to gifted and talented fifth graders. The course material was adapted from a college course usually taught at the sophomore level. Students learned about business transactions, financial statements, and business decision-making. Score differences on pretests and posttests showed learning at a statistically significant level ( P P >0.05) from college sophomores who took the same test. The importance of this project is that elementary age students can form very favorable impressions of accounting, which may be beneficial to the students and to the accounting profession. Almost all of the fifth grade students desired to learn more about accounting. This project is also an excellent opportunity to involve Beta Alpha Psi in a rewarding service experience.

When acid-containing gases condense on a steel surface a phenomenon called dewpoint corrosion can occur. In this case severe attack can appear and the attack cannot be predicted from traditional immersion test data. Dewpoint corrosion can for instance be found in refinery overhead condensers and in waste incineration plants. An experimental set-up consisting of a closed glass loop has been constructed in which stainless steel samples are exposed to condensing conditions simulating a formed condensate of about 1% HCl. In the loop three stainless steels have been tested. For all three materials higher corrosion rates were found in the loop than obtained in immersion tests but in the same range as can be predicted from service experience.

Two field studies examined the role of procedural justice in the delivery of services. Waiting time and waiting procedures, two dimensions of procedural justice, and their effects on customers' reactions, were studied. In Study 1, 135 customers of two fast-food restaurants were surveyed about their service experience and perceptions of justice. The restaurants used two different types of waiting procedures, single-line systems and multiple-line systems. Study 2 consisted of a field experiment in which 102 customers of a bookstore filled out a survey regarding their service experience. The line system was switched systematically between a single-line and a multiple-line system. Although no differences in actual wait time existed, results of both studies show that customers in a single-line system perceived wait time to be shorter. Furthermore, perceived wait time and perceptions of the waiting procedures predicted customers' reactions to the waiting experience. An interaction between the two procedural justice dimensions was observed in Study 2, indicating that customers' reactions to the wait were more positive when perceived wait time was short and the waiting procedures were perceived as adequate. Results are discussed from the perspectives of organizational justice and waiting expectations.

This study investigated factors which influence the importance one attributes to overall appearance and the choice of type of hair-grooming establishment. Data were collected from a sample of 245 respondents residing in a southwestern metropolitan area. Analyses reveal that respondents employed in professional/managerial, clerical/secretarial, sales, services, and military occupations, ones in which appearance could influence job performance, identified maintaining an overall good appearance as very important significantly more often than respondents employed in other occupations. Employment in appearance-important occupations significantly influences the choice of hair-grooming establishment. Demographic variables have greater explanatory power than economic variables (appearance-important occupations and income) and establishment attribute variables (image, service experience, and convenience).

Ocean wave spectra were for many years regarded as scientific information of little use for practical purposes. In the last decade, this has changed. Within many marine sectors there are now stronger demands for more accurate spectral information which directly have an impact on safety and regularity of operations and on the sustainability of constructions. This paper shows examples of applications, mostly from routine forecasting service experience in the North Sea and the North East Atlantic.