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This study analysed how income disparity affects citizens' public service satisfaction. Using the data of the Chinese General Social Survey from 2013 to 2015, we found that income disparity can reduce citizens' satisfaction with public service. Through a series of robustness tests, the findings of this paper remain robust. Mechanism analysis indicates that material aspirations are the main pathway through which income disparity affects citizens' satisfaction with public services. We also found that the effect of income disparity on citizens' satisfaction with public services is more pronounced in the samples of non-residents, urban residents and higher-income groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: A market entrant often challenges the incumbent using creative imitation: The entrant creatively combines imitated aspects of the original with its own innovative characteristics to create a distinct offering. Using lab and field experiments to examine creative imitation in China, we find the effects of creative imitations on the originals depend on the creative imitation's quality. We explore the underlying mechanisms, and show that including a low-quality creative imitation in the retail choice set increases satisfaction with and choice of the original, while a moderate-quality creative imitation does the opposite. Moreover, creative imitation affects consumers' satisfaction with the original by influencing whether their experience with the original verifies their expectations. Our paper reveals creative imitation effects to help incumbent firms effectively address them. Managerial Summary: When the incumbent is challenged by an entrant using creative imitation, consumers may react differently to the incumbent, and understanding consumers' reactions allows the incumbent to make better strategic decisions about how to address the challenge. Using lab and field experiments, we investigate creative imitations with two quality levels common in our empirical context, low quality and moderate quality, and examine how and why they differentially affect the originals. We find the presence of a low-quality creative imitation actually increased choice of the original by enhancing consumers' satisfaction with it, while a moderate-quality creative imitation reduced choice of the original by undermining satisfaction with it. Our research suggests the incumbent should address moderate-quality creative imitations' challenges to customer satisfaction, while temporarily tolerating low-quality creative imitations.

The provision of cultural and tourism public services in tourism destinations exerts a substantial influence on visitor experience and their overall quality of life. The current study applied structural equation modeling to empirically investigate the relationship between perceived cultural and tourism public services of visitors and their quality of life. Additionally, the mediating effects of perceived value, expectancy disconfirmation, and satisfaction in the above-mentioned influence relationship was also explored. In order to collect data, a field survey was conducted in a world heritage site located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. A total of 550 questionnaires were delivered, out of which 518 valid questionnaires were retained for subsequent analysis. The results demonstrate that perceived cultural and tourism public services of visitors have significant and positive influence on their perceived value, and visitors' perceived value has a positive effect on their expectancy disconfirmation. Moreover, there is a strong and positive relationship between visitors' expectancy disconfirmation and their satisfaction and quality of life. Additionally, the mediating effect of perceived value, expectancy disconfirmation, and satisfaction exist, and these three mediating variables serve as full mediators. The present study addresses the theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and potential areas for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates how provision of calories-per-serving information on serving size labels affects snack consumption quantity. Drawing from expectancy-disconfirmation theory, this research shows that providing calories-per-serving information can ironically create a consumption backfire effect (consumers eat more when presented with calories-per-serving information) for snacks perceived as unhealthy but not for snacks perceived as healthy. The authors find that this effect arises when calorie expectations are higher than the posted calories-per-serving level—a frequent occurrence due to stated serving sizes that are typically smaller than amounts consumed in one sitting. The authors also show that attention to calorie information plays a key role such that the backfire effect occurs among consumers who pay more attention to calorie information. Furthermore, motivational factors including individual differences and perceptions of the risk associated with consuming a snack also play a role in driving consumption differences. The authors offer managerial, policy, and consumer welfare implications, including proposing and testing larger stated serving sizes as an intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of cultural and tourism public services in tourism destinations exerts a substantial influence on visitor experience and their overall quality of life. The current study applied structural equation modeling to empirically investigate the relationship between perceived cultural and tourism public services of visitors and their quality of life. Additionally, the mediating effects of perceived value, expectancy disconfirmation, and satisfaction in the above-mentioned influence relationship was also explored. In order to collect data, a field survey was conducted in a world heritage site located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. A total of 550 questionnaires were delivered, out of which 518 valid questionnaires were retained for subsequent analysis. The results demonstrate that perceived cultural and tourism public services of visitors have significant and positive influence on their perceived value, and visitors’ perceived value has a positive effect on their expectancy disconfirmation. Moreover, there is a strong and positive relationship between visitors’ expectancy disconfirmation and their satisfaction and quality of life. Additionally, the mediating effect of perceived value, expectancy disconfirmation, and satisfaction exist, and these three mediating variables serve as full mediators. The present study addresses the theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and potential areas for further research.

This study aims to investigate how humans and artificial intelligence (AI) speakers interact and to examine the interactions based on three types of communication failures: system, semantic, and effectiveness. We divided service failures using AI speaker user data provided by the top telecommunication service providers in South Korea and investigated the means to increase the continuity of product use for each type. We proved the occurrence of failure due to system error (H1) and negative results on sustainable use of the AI speaker due to not understanding the meaning (H2). It was observed that the number of users increases as the effectiveness failure rate increases. For single-person households constituted by persons in their 30s and 70s or older, the continued use of AI speakers was significant. We found that it alleviated loneliness and that human-machine interaction using AI speaker could reach a high level through a high degree of meaning transfer. We also expect AI speakers to play a positive role in single-person households, especially in cases of the elderly, which has become a tough challenge in the recent times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, it is aimed to determine the satisfaction levels of customers who purchase products from Isparta Regional Directorate of Forestry. The research data were collected with the help of documentation analysis, observation, interview and questionnaire. The survey studies were carried out with 59 companies that purchased a significant part of the products produced by the regional directorate. The data obtained was evaluated according to the Expectancy Disconfirmation Model. According to the research findings, the top three issues that the customers are most satisfied with are; The physical suitability of sales venues, the suitability of tender times and the kindness of salespeople. The first three dissatisfied issues are; The problem of standardization in stacks in warehouses, the high loading unit costs in the warehouses and the products offered for sale are not as neat as desired.

Across four studies, the authors demonstrate that consumers intuitively link disconfirmation, specifically sensory disconfirmation (when touch disconfirms expectations by sight), to a brand's personality. Negative disconfirmation is often associated with negative posttrial evaluations. However, the authors find that when negative sensory disconfirmation is introduced by an exciting brand, the source of disconfirmation can sometimes be perceived positively. This occurs because consumers intuitively view disconfirmation as more authentic of an exciting personality. Similarly, despite the wealth of literature linking positive disconfirmation to positive posttrial evaluations, the authors find that sensory confirmation is more preferred for sincere brands because consumers intuitively view confirmation as more authentic of a sincere personality. The authors conclude by demonstrating the intuitive nature of this phenomenon by showing that the lay belief linking brand personality to disconfirmation does not activate in a context where sensory disconfirmation encourages a more deliberative assessment of the product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored women's views on the Star Wars merchandise that is marketed to them when the franchise merchandise as a whole is predominantly marketed to males. The study aimed to look at the satisfaction, involvement and utilitarian value that female consumers have when shopping for women's Star Wars merchandise in order to make the comparison as described by the theoretical framework of expectancy disconfirmation. The researchers conducted semi-structured, one-on-one video interviews with eight participants who were recruited from a Star Wars-focused group on Facebook. The results of the study revealed that although the participants had certain expectations with women's Star Wars merchandise, they were disappointed in what was being offered to them in stores. The participants experienced negative disconfirmation as the perceived performance of the women's Star Wars merchandise did not meet their expectations, resulting in dissatisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of expectancy disconfirmation on passengers' reactions to airline delays.Design/methodology/approach The study uses a between-subject factorial design with 9 treatments involving 161 subjects to collect data to test the hypotheses.Findings The study showed that, when given a positive disconfirmation, subjects feel better and are more satisfied, but when given a negative disconfirmation, they feel more negative and dissatisfied. Also, the effect size of positive disconfirmation on satisfaction and feelings about the service provider were significantly less than that of negative disconfirmation of the same size. Hence, in the event of a delay, managers may have to announce the upper bound of the delay duration so that passengers might feel better and become more satisfied when the actual delay duration is shorter than what was initially expected. In addition, they must try their best not to create situations of negative disconfirmation in light of their disproportional impact on satisfaction.Practical implications According to the results, airline managers should estimate as accurately as possible the duration of a delay when there is one.Originality/value A major contribution of this study is that manipulating the way delay duration information is given to passengers can affect feelings about the delay and the level of satisfaction with the airline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to explore consumers’ expectations and experiences with buffet lunches at workplaces, using the disconfirmation paradigm. Consumers (N = 25) were interviewed before and after eating a buffet lunch. Interviews were transcribed and content analyzed. The results demonstrate that consumers perceive meal satisfaction as a holistic experience integrating sensory and quality experiences of the food, physiological consequences of eating, and social and environmental aspects of the meal. Consumer meal satisfaction was linked to achievement of short- and long-term goals on maintaining or improving physical and mental well-being. Alignment of meal-related goals and behavior promotes meal satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Online game providers frequently encounter a dilemma, i.e., should they design games that offer only a limited challenge or ones that are highly challenging which will likely inspire gamers but may also create frustration. This study contributes to efforts to solve this dilemma by establishing when frustration does not reduce continuance intention and is the first answering this research question. Expectancy disconfirmation theory was used to develop the study hypotheses along with responses from 406 online gamers to test the hypotheses. The analytical results indicate that frustration is negatively related to expectancy disconfirmation only for gamers with a high gaming intensity, but not for gamers with a long gaming history. Moreover, expectancy disconfirmation is positively related to continuance intention. The analytical results theoretically extend the expectancy disconfirmation theory and also enable game providers to design challenging games without losing their gamers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diffusion of quantitative measures of performance has been one of the most widespread trends in government in past decades. This trend is motivated partly by the hope that policymakers will use performance data, but we know little about the basic tendency of individuals to incorporate and use performance information. This article draws from interactive dialogue theory to argue that the connection between data and decisions will not be automatic, but will depend upon circumstances, such as the nature of the data and how they are presented. Because observational studies have limited ability to identify such circumstances, this article argues for an experimental approach that offers greater flexibility in designing theory-based treatments. A vignette experiment methodology approach is used, providing subjects with a variety of budget scenarios, varying the amount and type of information they receive, and asking them to make budget decisions. The results provide evidence that conditions of goal ambiguity, expectancy disconfirmation, and advocacy alter the potential for performance data to influence resource decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University library administrators in Sri Lanka have begun to search for alternative ways to satisfy their clientele on the basis of service quality. This article aims at providing a theoretical model to facilitate the identification of service quality attributes and domains that may be used to predict customer satisfaction from a service quality perspective. The effectiveness of existing service quality models such as LibQUAL, SERVQUAL and SERVPREF have been questioned. In that regard, this study developed a theoretical model for academic libraries in Sri Lanka based on the disconfirmation and performance-only paradigms. These perspectives were considered by researchers to be the core mechanism to develop service quality/customer satisfaction models. The attributes and domain identification of service quality was carried out with a stratified sample of 263 participants selected from postgraduate and undergraduate students and academic staff members from the faculties of Arts in four universities in Sri Lanka. The study established that responsiveness, supportiveness, building environment, collection and access, furniture and facilities, technology, Web services and service delivery were quality domains which can be used to predict customer satisfaction. The theoretical model is unique in its domain structure compared to the existing models. The model needs to be statistically tested to make it valid and parsimonious.

In order to provide an experience that meets or exceeds a spectator's expectations, it is important to understand customers' expectations. Given sport consumers may have experience with similar service providers or similar products, it is important for sport managers to understand which sporting events spectators may be comparing when constructing their expectations. Results from this study suggest spectators may base their expectations on sports they are most familiar with and other sports competing at a similar level. Further, results suggest spectators' attendance intentions are more likely to be based on predictive expectations when spectators have direct experience with a sport, but based on ideal expectations when experience is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports one of the first known studies which examine the association between cognitive factors and older people’s satisfaction with residential care. These factors are conceptually related to but have seldom been examined in institutional care. They include perceived service performance, service expectation, expectancy disconfirmation (operationalized as the difference between service expectation and perceived performance), perceived care need, and care need fulfillment. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with Chinese Hong Kong residents from 11 government-funded long-term care homes randomly and proportionately selected from two strata based on facility size. Finally, 405 residents were successfully interviewed. Path analysis revealed that perceived performance, expectancy disconfirmation, and being female predicted residents’ satisfaction with care. Perceived care need and care need fulfillment exerted an indirect effect on residents’ satisfaction through perceived performance. It is suggested that cognitive factors as perceived by the residents be included as predictors of resident satisfaction in long-term care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The intense queuing phenomenon in Chinese banks has been a critical issue for bank managers for a long time, especially in big cities, which increases the possibility of customer dissatisfaction. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents of post-recovery satisfaction within China's "Big 4" commercial banks. By tracking the nature of service failures and examining the overall performance of the service recovery process in the Chinese banking industry, the authors aim to investigate how customer expectations, their perception of recovery justice and recovery quality affect customer satisfaction under service recovery context. Design/methodology/approach – Based on disconfirmation paradigm and fairness theory, a conceptual model with 12 hypotheses was derived for the banking sector. With reference to the instruments RECOVSAT and SERVQUAL scale, a questionnaire was developed and sent to a geographically stratified, random sample of 300 participants in Changsha City. Confirmatory factor analysis was used for reliability/validity testing, and the hypothesised relationships among the latent constructs were estimated using structural equation modelling. Findings – Consistent with most previous researches, the empirical results supported the idea that recovery expectation negatively influenced the recovery quality perceptions, expectancy disconfirmation and satisfaction with service recovery. Other findings included that both positive disconfirmation and recovery quality perceptions had positive effect on recovery satisfaction. However, unlike other studies relating to service justice, interactional justice was found to have no significant effect on quality perception or satisfaction with recovery, and this was attributed to customer's higher tolerance zone under the particular competition environment in China. Originality/value – By exploring the antecedents of post-recovery satisfaction within China's "Big 4" commercial banks, the study provided valuable findings in relation to participants' perceptions on recovery justice and quality. It highlighted the effect of characteristics of Chinese customers on post-recovery satisfaction, and the importance of good understanding of customer expectation and employee empowerment in the banking industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research in the product failure literature shows that such failures have important implications for evaluations of the target product, and even for evaluations of closely related products. The current studies identify distrust as an additional byproduct of negative expectancy disconfirmation and show that such perceptions are capable of producing even broader carryover effects—pertaining to unrelated products/companies. The effects of distrust are identified through tests of mediation and moderation, and are shown to be distinct from other processes known to relate to product failure. The results also show an asymmetry in the effects of positive and negative disconfirmation, consistent with the predicted negativity bias in judgments of generalized trust versus generalized distrust. Finally, generalized distrust continued to exert a negative influence despite the opportunity to directly examine the second product, and these effects were actually augmented to some extent. The results have implications for the expectancy disconfirmation and product failure literatures, as well as the defensive bias model of distrust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University library administrators in Sri Lanka have begun to search for alternative ways to satisfy their clientele on the basis of service quality. This article aims at providing a theoretical model to facilitate the identification of service quality attributes and domains that may be used to predict customer satisfaction from a service quality perspective. The effectiveness of existing service quality models such as LibQUAL, SERVQUAL and SERVPREF have been questioned. In that regard, this study developed a theoretical model for academic libraries in Sri Lanka based on the disconfirmation and performance-only paradigms. These perspectives were considered by researchers to be the core mechanism to develop service quality/customer satisfaction models. The attributes and domain identification of service quality was carried out with a stratified sample of 263 participants selected from postgraduate and undergraduate students and academic staff members from the faculties of Arts in four universities in Sri Lanka. The study established that responsiveness, supportiveness, building environment, collection and access, furniture and facilities, technology, Web services and service delivery were quality domains which can be used to predict customer satisfaction. The theoretical model is unique in its domain structure compared to the existing models. The model needs to be statistically tested to make it valid and parsimonious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disconfirmation of expectations, season-long satisfaction, seeing waterfowl, and waterfowl harvest opportunity may affect the intentions to waterfowl hunt in the future for Mississippi hunters. In this study, the disconfirmation of expectations had the strongest relationship with satisfaction for all models examined. Seeing plenty of waterfowl and the perception of having good opportunities to harvest waterfowl were also related to satisfaction for a season. Depending on the season length and bag limit for the following season; seeing waterfowl, satisfaction with previous season, and the perception of harvest opportunity were related to intentions to waterfowl hunt in the future. Our research supports the idea that if managers are unable to manipulate the environmental variables affecting satisfaction and intentions to hunt, they may be able to influence hunter expectations to improve hunter satisfaction and retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its prominence in the consumer satisfaction literature, the role of expectations has been neglected when studying hunter satisfaction. We used the "expectancy disconfirmation paradigm" from the marketing literature to (a) investigate the role of expectations on waterfowl hunter satisfaction, and (b) compare findings with traditional performance only measures. To measure disconfirmation, we used a measure of expectations and subtracted it from a measure of performance to derive a difference score. Difference scores performed well compared to traditional performance only measures when correlated with overall satisfaction. Expectations were not met for some of the strongest antecedents of overall satisfaction. Variables related to harvest and hunting location were among the most strongly correlated items with overall satisfaction for both measurement techniques. We recommend a measurement of expectations should be considered in future hunter satisfaction research for the additional understanding of satisfaction judgments it offers to wildlife managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theme restaurants were designed to provide customers with not only a meal, but also an entertaining experience. After a rapid rise in popularity in the early to mid 1990s, theme restaurants began to experience a decline in market share. As this segment of the restaurant industry experiences the downsizing of many once popular brands, it is imperative that investigations are undertaken to determine the causes of this decline. Many researchers have attributed customer satisfaction and subsequent return intent as key indicators regarding the success of a restaurant. Although considerable research has been conducted on these indicators in the service industry, none has focused on theme restaurants in particular. Relying upon expectancy disconfirmation theory, this study adds to the existing body of customer satisfaction literature by examining four theme restaurant attributes (food quality, service quality, atmosphere, and novelty) and their influence on return intent. Interestingly, customers were least satisfied with novelty. Further, customer satisfaction with theme restaurant food quality and atmosphere were the only significant attributes influencing return intent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the formation of residents' behavioral intentions to support the expansion of protected areas (PAs). A structural equation model combining the theory of planned behavior and an expectancy disconfirmation model were employed to test seven hypotheses on the influence of expectations, performance, satisfaction, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on behavioral intention to support PA designation. The findings indicate that although the expectations of PA performance did not significantly influence the satisfaction from PAs, the perceived performance after the designation significantly contributed to building satisfaction, which in turn had a significant role in explaining attitudes. Furthermore, positive and significant associations of subjective norms and behavioral control with behavioral intention to support additional designation were identified. These results provide indications for PA managers and environmental agencies regarding aspects to consider when engaging in planning with local communities and appropriate ways to respond to their concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]