Simulation as an Aid to Learning: How Does Participation Influence the Process?

This paper investigates the manner in which participation in simulation games influences learning. The 92 members of an introductory marketing class were surveyed about their responses to the simulation, the lectures, and the textbook at the conclusion of the course. The findings were mixed. Lectures and textbook seemed to influence content learning more than did the simulation. Some evidence supports the notion that the simulation influenced process learning more than the other learning tools swayed it. Students perceived that they were relatively more involved in the simulation experience, although this finding was not substantiated by indirect measures. Finally, some data suggested that student involvement had a bearing on their content learning

The importance of customer’s perception of salesperson’s empathy in selling

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of salesperson empathy, both cognitive and affective, on business-to-business buyer-salesperson relational outcomes. Specifically, the direct impact of empathy is examined in relation to both the salesperson’s communication ability and customer-oriented behavior. The impact of empathy is then examined as a direct and indirect influencer of satisfaction with the salesperson and commitment to the salesperson. Design/methodology/approach To attain the objective of this research, an empirical study was conducted using 248 business-to-business purchasing agents. Findings The study found that cognitive empathy and affective empathy had a positive relationship with customer-oriented behaviors, information communication ability and commitment to the salesperson. However, only cognitive empathy was found to have a positive relationship with customer’s satisfaction with the salesperson. Originality/value Although empathy has found to have a positive effect on sales, sales research has yet to provide conclusive evidence on whether cognitive empathy and affective empathy would have a similar effect on a salesperson-customer relationship. This study provides evidence that not all facets of empathy influence relational outcomes the same way and differ in magnitude. This provides strong support for the importance of studying the impact of empathy from a faceted viewpoint rather than a uni-dimensional perspective when examining the influence on buyer-seller relational outcomes

On the Role of Empathy in Customer-Employee Interactions

While the service literature repeatedly emphasizes the role of empathy in service interactions, studies on empathy in customer–employee interactions are nearly absent. This study defines and conceptualizes employee and customer empathy as multidimensional constructs and empirically investigates their impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. A quantitative study based on dyadic data and a multilevel modeling approach finds support for two effects of empathy in service interactions. The study reveals that customer empathy strengthens the positive effect of employee empathy on customer satisfaction, leading to more “symbiotic interactions.” The findings also indicate that empathic customers are more likely to respond to a dissatisfying encounter with “forgiveness,” in the sense that customer empathy is able to mitigate negative effects of customer dissatisfaction on customer loyalty. From these empirical results, the authors derive several implications for service research and the management of service encounters. In particular, the present study provides a valuable basis for strategies of “interaction routing,” that is, matching customers and employees on the basis of their psychological profiles to create smooth and satisfying service interactions. The authors elaborate on approaches to implement this strategy in service organizations