Can Customers Detect Script Usage in Service Encounters? An Experimental Video Analysis

Service scripts are predetermined guides for employees to follow when delivering service to customers. Some services require employees to strictly follow a script, whereas others use scripts more flexibly, if at all. Extant research regarding service scripts in the domain of service operations has mainly addressed the topic from more of a process view as a control mechanism for the encounter but minimal research has examined customer perceptions of scripted service. The authors examine a pivotal first question, which is if customers can detect different approaches to script use. To answer the question, the authors conducted a video experiment of face‐to‐face service encounters in the hospitality industry. The results indicate that customers can detect degrees of script use across both standardized and customized encounter types. This work serves as initial empirical evidence that customers are indeed capable of detecting subtleties in scripting approaches in different service situations and supports that script level is an important service design construct for research. Furthermore, the authors highlight the use of a video experiment as an innovative methodology for assessing customer perceptions of intangible aspects to services in a realistic setting. One implication of this study is that managers need to assess the impact that different script levels have on customer perceptions of various service performance measures. Managers should also consider the effect script detection has on customer perceptions of the service experience and service brand to assure their script approach aligns with the organization’s service strategy

The Impact of Service System Design and Flow Experience on Customer Satisfaction in Online Financial Services

Prior research examines customer satisfaction in retailing and e-commerce settings, yet online financial services have received little research attention. To understand customer satisfaction with this fast-growing service, this study investigates the role of flow experience, a sensation that occurs as a result of significant cognitive involvement. The study examines how service system characteristics affect the cognitive states of the flow experience, which determines customer satisfaction. The flow construct and total experience design suggest a structural model that is empirically tested using responses from a large sample of online investors. In support of the model and most of the hypotheses it suggests, the empirical results clarify the important antecedents and consequence of flow experience in online financial services and suggest the viability of using a dual-layer experience construct to investigate customer satisfaction. These findings can help researchers and service providers understand when, where, and how flow experience is formulated in online financial services

Satisfying The University's Customers Through Total Quality Management Instruction: A Case Study

In academics, as well as in industry, we must achieve quality instruction by exceeding the needs of our customers. Perhaps the most important of these customers are the future employers of our students. The majority of these employers are beginning to implement programs of total quality management (TQM) programs. As the suppliers of their human resources, universities must seek to provide graduating students who are well versed in the use of TQM. We describe initial attempts at the University of Idaho's College of Business and Economics to teach our students the principles of TQM. All students in the college are being introduced to the principles through a beginning production/operations management class, and many are gaining greater understanding through a quality management class. Resources such as the Application Guidelines for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award are used to provide a frame of reference for ensuing course materials. Initial work is also being done to integrate TQM principles into other courses such as services marketing and human resource management. Although we are in the early stages of implementation, preliminary results look promising

Script Usage in Standardized and Customized Service Encounters: Implications for Perceived Service Quality

This study examines the effect that verbal scripts have on customer perceived service quality for two distinct service process types. We designed a video experiment that varied the level of verbal scripting for standardized and customized service encounters. We found that in standardized service encounters, an increase in the level of verbal scripting had no effect on perceived service quality. However, for customized encounters, perceived service quality was impacted. More specifically, a predominantly scripted encounter for customized service processes, on average, resulted in the lowest perception of service quality by respondents. Since verbal scripting was shown to impact customer perceptions of service quality, we suggest that a service provider’s decision regarding the degree of verbal scripting is an important service design consideration

Control Charts in the Presence of Data Correlation

Traditional statistical process control charts assume that observations are independent and normally distributed about some mean. We investigate the robustness of traditional charts to data correlation when the correlation can be described by an ARMA(1,1) model. We compare the performance of the Shewhart chart and the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) chart to the performance of the Special-Cause Control (SCC) chart and the Common-Cause Control (CCC) chart proposed by Alwan and Roberts (1988), which are designed to account for data correlation. We also explore the possibility of putting limits on the CCC chart, in order to predict quality abnormalities. The measure of performance used is the average run length (ARL). The results show that the ability of the EWMA chart to detect shifts in the process mean is quite robust to data correlation, while the corresponding individuals Shewhart chart rarely detects such shifts more quickly than the other charts. The SCC and CCC charts are shown to be preferred in most cases when a shift in the process mean exceeds 2 standard deviations. The experimental results can aid practitioners in deciding which chart would be most effective at detecting specified shifts in the process mean given the nature of their particular correlated environments. Two methodologies are utilized to explain the relative performance of the SPC charts compared: the dynamic step response function, and response surface methodology. Such methods not only facilitate a discussion of our results, but also make it possible to predict the relative performance of the charts when the process can be described by a model which is more complex than the ARMA(1,1) model.statistical process control, time series, average run length

Can Customers Detect Script Usage in Service Encounters? An Experimental Video Analysis

Service scripts are predetermined guides for employees to follow when delivering service to customers. Some services require employees to strictly follow a script, whereas others use scripts more flexibly, if at all. Extant research regarding service scripts in the domain of service operations has mainly addressed the topic from more of a process view as a control mechanism for the encounter but minimal research has examined customer perceptions of scripted service. The authors examine a pivotal first question, which is if customers can detect different approaches to script use. To answer the question, the authors conducted a video experiment of face‐to‐face service encounters in the hospitality industry. The results indicate that customers can detect degrees of script use across both standardized and customized encounter types. This work serves as initial empirical evidence that customers are indeed capable of detecting subtleties in scripting approaches in different service situations and supports that script level is an important service design construct for research. Furthermore, the authors highlight the use of a video experiment as an innovative methodology for assessing customer perceptions of intangible aspects to services in a realistic setting. One implication of this study is that managers need to assess the impact that different script levels have on customer perceptions of various service performance measures. Managers should also consider the effect script detection has on customer perceptions of the service experience and service brand to assure their script approach aligns with the organization’s service strategy.Verma15_Can_Customers_detect_script_usage.pdf: 1196 downloads, before Aug. 1, 2020