Influences of organizational investments in social capital on service employee commitment and performance

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Improving customers' service experiences by identifying ways to develop organizational cultures that better motivate and engage service employees is an important issue for service organizations and a top priority in services research. However, extant services research focuses far more on managing customer relationships than on the dynamics of effectively supporting and developing the service personnel who interact with customers. This study assesses the influence of an organizational human resource developmental initiative on service employees. The authors utilize social capital theory and the theory of reasoned action to propose and test a model that examines relationships between organizational investments in social capital and service employees' work-related attitudes, norms, and behaviors. Results from a field study of 407 customerfacing employees from multiple service organizations suggest that making organizational investments in social capital favorably influences service employees' commitment, job performance, and organizational citizenship behavior

Hailers: Retail salespeople near the entrance of the store and shoppers' approach-avoidance reactions

This research examines a retail salesperson behavior that has been largely overlooked in the literature: retail salespeople standing and waiting for customers near the entrance of the store in retail centers, such as in traditional shopping malls, as well as a variety of other retail shopping contexts. These salespeople are referred to as "hailers." The small amount of previous work in the area and theory suggest that this practice is a positive influence. However, qualitative interviews and quantitative results suggest the opposite. Many consumers feel uncomfortable with a salesperson near the entrance of a retail store because they think that the hailer is going to use high-pressure sales tactics. The main study, which is grounded in approach-avoidance theory and emotional contagion theory, consists of two experiments that examine the effects of retail salespeople near the entrance of stores, as well as other environmental factors and salesperson characteristics. The first study manipulates store familiarity and retail density in addition to the presence of a retail salesperson. The second study focuses on particular characteristics of a salesperson present near the entrance and manipulates the salesperson's demeanor and their level of activity. Each of the stimuli consists of a photograph and scenario combination. The results of experiment one show that the presence of a hailer has a negative influence on consumers' feelings of pleasure and arousal. Feelings of pleasure (and dominance) have a positive influence on approach attitudes and store patronage intentions, while arousal has an inverted-U shaped relationship with store patronage intentions. The results from experiment two show that when a hailer must be present near the entrance of the retail store, a salesperson's positive demeanor has a positive influence on feelings of pleasure. In turn, pleasure has a positive relationship with approach attitudes and store patronage intentions. An unexpected interaction between salesperson demeanor and level of activity has a disordinal relationship with dominance. Further, dominance has a positive influence on store patronage intentions. This research contributes to the domains of retail sales, atmospherics, approach-avoidance theory, and emotional contagion theory. The findings, managerial and academic implications, limitations, and future research are discussed

Hailers: retail salespeople near the entrance of the store and shoppers' approach-avoidance reactions

This research examines a retail salesperson behavior that has been largely overlooked in the literature: retail salespeople standing and waiting for customers near the entrance of the store in retail centers, such as in traditional shopping malls, as well as a variety of other retail shopping contexts. These salespeople are referred to as "hailers." The small amount of previous work in the area and theory suggest that this practice is a positive influence. However, qualitative interviews and quantitative results suggest the opposite. Many consumers feel uncomfortable with a salesperson near the entrance of a retail store because they think that the hailer is going to use high-pressure sales tactics. The main study, which is grounded in approach-avoidance theory and emotional contagion theory, consists of two experiments that examine the effects of retail salespeople near the entrance of stores, as well as other environmental factors and salesperson characteristics. The first study manipulates store familiarity and retail density in addition to the presence of a retail salesperson. The second study focuses on particular characteristics of a salesperson present near the entrance and manipulates the salesperson's demeanor and their level of activity. Each of the stimuli consists of a photograph and scenario combination. The results of experiment one show that the presence of a hailer has a negative influence on consumers' feelings of pleasure and arousal. Feelings of pleasure (and dominance) have a positive influence on approach attitudes and store patronage intentions, while arousal has an inverted-U shaped relationship with store patronage intentions. The results from experiment two show that when a hailer must be present near the entrance of the retail store, a salesperson's positive demeanor has a positive influence on feelings of pleasure. In turn, pleasure has a positive relationship with approach attitudes and store patronage intentions. An unexpected interaction between salesperson demeanor and level of activity has a disordinal relationship with dominance. Further, dominance has a positive influence on store patronage intentions. This research contributes to the domains of retail sales, atmospherics, approach-avoidance theory, and emotional contagion theory. The findings, managerial and academic implications, limitations, and future research are discussed. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries