The Intentional Use of Service Recovery Strategies to Influence Consumer Emotion, Cognition and Behaviour

Service recovery strategies have been identified as a critical factor in the success of. service organizations. This study develops a conceptual frame work to investigate how specific service recovery strategies influence the emotional, cognitive and negative behavioural responses of . consumers., as well as how emotion and cognition influence negative behavior. Understanding the impact of specific service recovery strategies will allow service providers' to more deliberately and intentionally engage in strategies that result in positive organizational outcomes. This study was conducted using a 2 x 2 between-subjects quasi-experimental design. The results suggest that service recovery has a significant impact on emotion, cognition and negative behavior. Similarly, satisfaction, negative emotion and positive emotion all influence negative behavior but distributive justice has no effect

Resource Advantage Theory and Fair Trade Social Enterprises

This paper will investigate the competitive position of both fair trade (FT) social enterprises Divine Chocolate Ltd (Divine) and Cafédirect in their respective UK markets, namely chocolate confectionery and hot beverages. Using Eisenhardt’s (1989, 1991, and 2007) approach to building theory from multiple case studies, this four-year PhD study aims to identify the resources that enable FT social enterprises to compete. This research draws on recent developments in competition theory such as resource advantage theory (R-A theory), termed a general theory of competition. The paper will critically analyse if the social and ethical elements of these firm’s product offerings really constitute meaningful differentiators (i.e. comparative advantage) as required by R-A theory (Hunt and Morgan 1995, Hunt 2001). Hunt and Derozier (2004) argue that R-A theory can ground theories of business and marketing strategy and therefore identifying the competitive resources of FT social enterprises will have important strategic implications. The research findings show that both Divine and Cafédirect have established a mainstream competitive position in specific product segments and distribution channels. Thus illustrating intra-industry demand to be heterogeneous. In addition, both companies have been a catalyst for change by influencing the strategies and policies of both branded manufactures and retailers such as Cooperative Food (CF). The key theoretical contribution validates ‘social resources’ and its three inter-related components: ethical and social commitments, connections with partners and consistency of behaviour as a resource to extend R-A theory. These ‘social resources’ in combination with both relational resources and threshold capabilities (e.g. product quality) result in a competitive position for both case organisations. The ethical and social commitments of ‘social resources’ also appears to provide an example of an ethical underpinning to Relationship Marketing. The identification of ‘social resources’ has important wider implications for both other social enterprises and those companies who are aiming to achieve a competitive position based on social commitments

Service quality and consumers' experience: Towards an interpretive approach

As marketers and researchers we understand quality from the consumer's perspective, and throughout contemporary service quality literature there is an emphasis on what the consumer is looking for, or at least that is the intention. Through examining the underlying assumptions of dominant service quality theories, an implicit dualistic ontology is highlighted (where subject and object are considered independent) and argued to effectively negate the said necessary consumer orientation. This fundamental assumption is discussed, as are the implications, following a critical review of dominant service quality models. Consequently, we propose an alternative approach to service quality research that aims towards a more genuine understanding of the consumer's perspective on quality experienced within a service context. Essentially, contemporary service quality research is suggested to be limited in its inherent third-person perspective and the interpretive, specifically phenomenographic, approach put forward here is suggested as a means of achieving a first-person perspective on service quality

Determinantes da satisfação e atributos da qualidade em serviços bancários Satisfaction determinants and quality attributes in bank services

A qualidade percebida e a satisfação dos clientes são elementos essenciais para a competitividade das instituições bancárias. Assim, é importante identificar os fatores que determinam a percepção de qualidade e satisfação do ponto de vista dos clientes que utilizam esse tipo de serviço. O objetivo deste artigo é a construção de um modelo de relacionamento entre os determinantes de satisfação de clientes e a identificação dos principais atributos que afetam a qualidade percebida dos clientes de serviços bancários. Para isto, foram aplicadas duas pesquisas descritivas. Na primeira fase das pesquisas, utilizou-se a abordagem proposta por Tinoco e Ribeiro (2007) para identificar as relações entre determinantes e construir o modelo de satisfação de clientes. Na segunda fase, foram levantados e hierarquizados os principais atributos de qualidade percebida do ponto de vista dos clientes. Entre os resultados obtidos destacam-se como principais determinantes da satisfação de clientes a confirmação de expectativas e a qualidade percebida. Entre atributos mais importantes que afetam a qualidade percebida podem ser citados: funcionários com conhecimento e habilidade devidos, serviço feito corretamente na primeira vez, tarifas bancárias baratas, transparência e lealdade nas negociações, e presença de funcionários que buscam tornar o serviço mais ágil.<br>Perceived quality and customer satisfaction are essential elements for competitiveness of banking institutions. Therefore, it is important to identify customers' view of banks about drivers of quality perception and satisfaction. This paper presents a relationship model of determinant factors of satisfaction and the identification of key quality attributes for bank services. The model was built conducting two customer surveys. Firstly, the approach proposed by Tinoco and Ribeiro(2007) was applied to identify the relationship among the determinants and to build a satisfaction model. Next, main quality attributes considering the customer's view were surveyed and ranked. The results indicate that the confirmation of expectations and perceived quality are the most important determinants for customer satisfaction. Among the most important attributes that affect perceived quality, the following were highlighted: employees with proper knowledge and abilities, service done correctly in the first attempt, low bank tariffs, transparency and loyalty in transactions, and presence of employees providing agile services