Focusing on positive service experiences, this study examined the relation-ships among employee extra attention, customers delight, and customer re-purchase intentions. The target sample that had a positive interaction with an employee in the recent six months was invited to participate in the survey. The data analysis was performed in two steps: 1) Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and 2) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results suggested that employees’ extra attention affects customer delight. Subsequently, customer delight has a positive relationship with customer repurchase intentions. Furthermore, employee extra attention has a positive relationship with customer repurchase intentions. The finding of the study provides valuable implications for research and the industry regarding generating favorable customer repurchase intentions in positive service experiences.
References
[1]
Farrell, A., Souchon, A. and Durden, G. (2001) Service Encounter Conceptualization: Employees’ Service Behaviors and Customers’ Service Quality Perceptions. Journal of Marketing Management, 17, 577-593.
https://doi.org/10.1362/026725701323366944
[2]
Hartline, M.D. and Jones, K.C. (1996) Employee Performance Cues in a Hotel Service Environment: Influence on Perceived Service Quality, Value, and Word-of-Mouth Intentions. Journal of Business Research, 35, 207-215.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-2963(95)00126-3
[3]
Hennig-Thurau, T. (2004) Customer Orientation of Service Employees: Its Impact on Customer Satisfaction, Commitment, and Retention. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 15, 460-478.
https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230410564939
[4]
Salanova, M., Agut, S. and Peiró, J. M. (2005) Linking Organizational Resources and Work Engagement to Employee Performance and Customer Loyalty: The Mediation of Service Climate. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1217.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1217
[5]
Bitner, M.J., Booms, B.H. and Tetreault, M.S. (1990) The Service Encounter: Diagnosing Favorable and Unfavorable Incidents. The Journal of Marketing, 54, 71-84.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1252174
[6]
Price, L.L., Arnould, E.J. and Deibler, S.L. (1995) Consumers’ Emotional Responses to Service Encounters: The Influence of the Service Provider. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 6, 34-63.
https://doi.org/10.1108/09564239510091330
[7]
Bettencourt, L.A. and Brown, S.W. (1997) Contact Employee: Relationships among Workplace Fairness, Job Satisfaction and Prosocial Service Behaviors. Journal of Retailing, 73, 39-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(97)90014-2
[8]
Nyer, P. (1997) A Study of the Relationships between Cognitive Appraisals and Consumption Emotions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 25, 296-304.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070397254002
[9]
Hooge, I.E., Verlegh, P.W. and Tzioti, S.C. (2014) Emotions in Advice Taking: The Roles of Agency and Valence. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 27, 246-258.
https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.1801
[10]
Laros, F.J. and Steenkamp, J.B.E. (2005) Emotions in Consumer Behavior: A Hierarchical Approach. Journal of Business Research, 58, 1437-1445.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2003.09.013
[11]
Mattila, A.S. and Ro, H. (2008) Discrete Negative Emotions and Customer Dissatisfaction Responses in a Casual Restaurant Setting. Journal of Hospitality Tourism Research, 32, 89-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348007309570
[12]
Bitner, M.J., Brown, S.W. and Meuter, M.L. (2000) Technology Infusion in Service Encounters. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28, 138-149.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070300281013
[13]
Gardner, M.P. (1985) Mood States and Consumer Behavior: A Critical Review. Journal of Consumer Research, 12, 281-300. https://doi.org/10.1086/208516
[14]
Tsai, W.C. and Huang, Y.M. (2002) Mechanisms Linking Employee Affective Delivery and Customer Behavioral intentions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 1001-1008. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.5.1001
[15]
Alexander, M.W. (2010) Customer Delight: A Review. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 14, 39-54.
[16]
Torres, E.N. and Kline, S. (2013) From Customer Satisfaction to Customer Delight: Creating a New Standard of Service for the Hotel Industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25, 642-659.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-Dec-2011-0228
[17]
Khan, M.S., Naumann, E. and Williams, P. (2012) Identifying the Key Drivers of Customer Satisfaction and Repurchase Intentions: An Empirical Investigation of Japanese B2B Services. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, D Is satisfaction & Complaining Behavior, 25, 159-178.
[18]
Ganesh, J., Arnold, M.J. and Reynolds, K.E. (2000) Understanding the Customer Base of Service Providers: An Examination of the Differences between Switcher and Stayers. Journal of Marketing, 64, 65-87. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.64.3.65.18028
[19]
Reichheld, F. (1996) The Loyalty Effect. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
[20]
Schneider, B. and Bowen, D.E. (1999) Understanding Customer Delight and Outrage. Sloan Management Review, 41, 35-45.
[21]
Plutchik, R. (1980) A General Psychoevolutionary Theory of Emotion. In: Plutchik, Ed., Theories of Emotion, Elsevier Inc., Atlanta, 3-33.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-558701-3.50007-7
[22]
Oliver, R.L., Rust, R.T. and Varki, S. (1997) Customer Delight: Foundations, Findings, and Managerial Insight. Journal of Retailing, 73, 311-336.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4359(97)90021-X
[23]
Oliver, R.L. (1981) Measurement and Evaluation of Satisfaction Processes in Retailing Setting. Journal of Retailing, 57, 25-48.
[24]
Crotts, J.C., Pan, B. and Raschid, A.E. (2008) Research in Brief: A Survey Method for Identifying Key Drivers of Guest Delight. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 20, 462-470.
https://doi.org/10.1108/09596110810873552
[25]
Ma, J., Gao, J., Scott, N. and Ding, P. (2013) Customer Delight from Theme Park Experiences: The Antecedents of Delight Based on Cognitive Appraisal Theory. Annals of Tourism Research, 42, 359-381.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2013.02.018
[26]
Kim, M., Vogt, C.A. and Knutson, B.J. (2015) Relationships among Customer Satisfaction, Delight, and Loyalty in the Hospitality Industry. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 39, 170-197. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348012471376
[27]
Fredrickson, B.L. (2001) The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218-226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
[28]
Buhrmester, M., Kwang, T. and Gosling, S.D. (2011) Amazon’s Mechanica Turk a New Source of Inexpensive, Yet High-Quality, Data? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3-5. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691610393980
[29]
Finn, A. (2005) Reassessing the Foundations of Customer Delight. Journal of Service Research, 8, 103-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670505279340
[30]
Smith, A.K. and Bolton, R.N. (1998) An Experimental Investigation of Customer Reactions to Service Failure and Recovery Encounters: Paradox or Peril? Journal of Service Research, 1, 65-81. https://doi.org/10.1177/109467059800100106
[31]
Anderson, E.W. (1994) Cross-Category Variation in Customer Satisfaction and Retention. Marketing Letters, 5, 19-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993955
[32]
Anderson, J.C. and Gerbing, D.W. (1988) Structural Equation Modeling in Practice: A Review and Recommended Two-Step Approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 411-423. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411