The Role of Kansei Engineering in Influencing Overall Satisfaction and Behavioral Intention in Service Encounters

Customers today concern themselves more on fulfilling their emotional needs rather than rationales and functionalities. In dealing with customer emotions in products/services, Kansei Engineering (KE) is applied. A comprehensive case study in luxury hotels was conducted. Eighty one Indonesian, 75 Singaporean, and 74 Japanese tourists participated in this survey. It aims to investigate the relationships among constructs during service encounter process. The finding shows that emotions (affective process) play a significant role as a complement to cognitive process in influencing customer satisfaction. Among 3 populations, Japanese was found to be more Kansei-oriented customer. Keywords: Kansei Engineering, emotional needs, customer satisfactio

Cultural differences in applying Kansei Engineering to services

It is imperative for companies to provide competitive products and services at a competitive price. Products and services need to offer features and properties which can makethem distinguishable and attractive to customers. Emotions and feelings are prominent during product interaction and service encounter. Kansei Engineering (KE) enables interpretation and translation of customer emotions into design parameters. The application of KE covers both products and services design. Besides dealing with attractive exterior appearances, KE has an ability to optimize properties that are not directly detectable or visible, such as the comfort of hospital and concert hall. There are few empirical studies. Kansei management should recognize cultural differences in Kansei. However, for analysis of cultural values we need to understand the different needs of different customers. A study of luxury hotel services for Indonesian, Japanese and Singaporean tourists, was conducted using interviews and a tri-lingual face-to-face questionnaire. 425 responses were collected. Japanese tourists were found to be the most Kansei-oriented. They tended to value luxury hotels as “clean” and “quiet” places to stay. Indonesian and Singaporean tourists shared a common response to the Kansei word “elegant” which correlates with their common cultural dimension of “power distance”. Incorporation of cultural issues into Kansei studies can provide marketing strategies for customers of different cultural backgrounds

Applying Kansei Engineering, the Kano model and QFD to services

This paper aims to present an integrative framework of Kansei Engineering (KE), the Kano model and quality function deployment (QFD) applied to services. An empirical study involving Indonesian and Singaporean tourists was conducted to showcase the framework’s applicability. The study utilises a sample of 100 Indonesian and 125 Singaporean tourists who stayed in luxury hotels and covers only services in luxury hotels. Interviews and face-to-face questionnaire surveys were carried out. Using stepwise linear regression analysis, this research models the effect of perceived hotel service performance on customer emotional needs (Kansei). House of quality (HOQ) is then used to formulate managerial strategies. We present the fruitfulness of integrating the Kano model, KE and QFD. Perceived attractive qualities have a direct significant impact on Kansei response. There is no analysis of the impact of cultural differences on Kansei. We provide insight on which service attributes deserve more attention with regard to their significant impact on customer emotions. It may guide service managers to provide and implement improvement strategies in satisfying customer emotional needs. The study proposes a unique methodology of integrative three concepts commonly used in manufacturing and service quality research to measure and model customer emotional needs

A Proposed Framework of Kansei Engineering Application in Dealing with Customer Emotional Needs in Services

Many studies on product designs have been widely conducted with a focus on functionality rather than human emotions. However, customers today are very dynamic and no longer focus only on functionality needs. Emotions increasingly, play an important role in purchasing decision. In dealing with customer emotional needs, Kansei Engineering is proposed. This approach captures customers’ desires and feelings (emotions/kansei) concerning products and translates these emotional needs into concrete product design. Kansei Engineering has been applied extensively in product design, but not in services. A service is an intangible product. It is the fastest growing sector in today’s businesses. Some prominent tools such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Kano’s Model are often used in services, but not incorporating customer emotional needs. In addition, some attentions have been widely used in investigating customer emotional satisfaction in services. However, there is not a formal methodology that can account for customer emotional needs. Therefore, to fill in these niches, this paper provides a proposed framework of Kansei Engineering in services. The proposed framework incorporates QFD and Kano’s Model as methods which focus on customer satisfaction. By applying Kano’s Model, customer needs are exploited through a questionnaire, and, service attributes are classified. QFD is then used to transform customer emotional needs into engineering characteristics. In addition, other models such as Bayesian Network (BN) and Markov Chain are utilized as well. The latter two models are useful to promote prediction and diagnostic inference with a probability view point due to the dynamics of customer emotional needs. The use of such supporting models will enhance the ability of the Kansei Engineering methodology to meet a sudden change or trend of customers’ emotional needs. Essentially, the proposed framework will start and end with customers to achieve customer emotional satisfaction. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the Kansei Engineering approach in service design, this paper provides an illustration. A simple literature survey was conducted at a university field. A majority of the students spend most of their time on campus. Why do students spend so much time at the university when they can better spend their time elsewhere, such as at home? How can a university be made a convenient second home for students? In this research, these two questions will be answered and tackled by introducing a modified Kansei Engineering method. The university does not only provide an academic service, but also an emotional experience for students. It is hoped that by introducing an improved innovative framework of Kansei Engineering, it could increase the level of customer satisfaction in pursuit of customer loyalty and a long-term relationship eventually

An integrative fuzzy Kansei Engineering and Kano model for logistics services

Nowadays, customer emotional needs (known as Kansei) in product and especially in services become a major concern. One of the emerging services is that logistics services. In obtaining a global competitive advantage, logistics services should understand and satisfy their customer affective impressions (Kansei). How to capture, model and analyze the customer emotions has been well structured by Kansei Engineering, equipped with Kano model to strengthen its methodology. However, its methodology lacks of the dynamics of customer perception. More specifically, there is a criticism of perceived scores on user preferences, in both perceived service quality and Kansei response, whether they represent an exact numerical value. Thus, this paper is proposed to discuss an approach of fuzzy Kansei in logistics service experiences. A case study in IT-based logistics services involving 100 subjects has been conducted. Its findings including the service gaps accompanied with prioritized improvement initiatives are discussed

Incorporating Kano’s Model and Markov Chain into Kansei Engineering in Services

Nowadays, customers concern themselves more on fulfilling their emotional needs/Kansei instead of focusing only on functionality and usability. Products and services need to be attractive, delightful and appealing to consumers’ emotions. In dealing with this, Kansei Engineering (KE) has been applied extensively. KE is useful in several regards. The first is its ability to translate customer emotions into concrete product/service design parameters. The second is its capacity to optimize properties that are not directly detectable or visible. The third is its flexibility to grasp and accommodate 21st century’s trends including hedonism, pleasure and individuality. This study focused on attractive attributes of service quality as the drivers of customer delight and loyalty. Kano’s model is used to exhibit the relationship between service attribute performance and emotional response. Customer preferences change over time. This study developed a means to respond to these changing needs. Markov chain can be applied towards this end. This study provides an integrative framework. It has two objectives. The first is to conduct a survey of luxury hotel services. Singaporean and Indonesian tourists served as the subjects. The second it is to enable service designers to prioritize their customer service improvement programs. A comprehensive interview and survey involving 181 Indonesian and 170 Singaporean tourists who stayed at luxury 4- and 5-star hotels was carried out. Luxury hotels were chosen since they focus much on delighting customers. A finding of this study shows the following three service attributes to be important: i) “the outdoor environment is visually clean”, ii) “the employees are never too busy to respond to your requests” and iii) “the employees are consistently courteous with you”. Subjects rated the attribute “the employees are never too busy to respond to your requests” as the most important. A house of quality (HOQ) was used to illustrate this. This study determined that the proposed improvements in response to this attribute are related to personnel management, general affair management, employee training, complaint responses and information services. This study offers several contributions. First, the results can be used as a prioritization tool in service quality improvement efforts where resources are limited (e.g., limited budget and time). Second, guideline for practitioners can be constructed to determine service attributes that are significantly sensitive to customer delight. Third, with the use of Markov chain, practitioners can be provided with information to understand the dynamics of customer needs over time and to prepare appropriate response strategies early

TNF-α Mediates Eosinophil Cationic Protein-induced Apoptosis in BEAS-2B Cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Eosinophilic granulocytes are important for the human immune system. Many cationic proteins with cytotoxic activities, such as eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN), are released from activated eosinophils. ECP, with low RNase activity, is widely used as a biomarker for asthma. ECP inhibits cell viability and induces apoptosis to cells. However, the specific pathway underlying the mechanisms of ECP-induced cytotoxicity remains unclear. This study investigated ECP-induced apoptosis in bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells and elucidated the specific pathway during apoptosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To address the mechanisms involved in ECP-induced apoptosis in human BEAS-2B cells, investigation was carried out using chromatin condensation, cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), sub-G1 distribution in cell cycle, annexin V labeling, and general or specific caspase inhibitors. Caspase-8-dependent apoptosis was demonstrated by cleavage of caspase-8 after recombinant ECP treatment, accompanied with elevated level of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Moreover, ECP-induced apoptosis was effectively inhibited in the presence of neutralizing anti-TNF-α antibody.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, our results have demonstrated that ECP increased TNF-α production in BEAS-2B cells and triggered apoptosis by caspase-8 activation through mitochondria-independent pathway.</p

How the Kano model contributes to Kansei engineering in services

Recent studies show that products and services hold great appeal if they are attractively designed to elicit emotional feelings from customers. Kansei engineering (KE) has good potential to provide a competitive advantage to those able to read and translate customer affect and emotion in actual product and services. This study introduces an integrative framework of the Kano model and KE, applied to services. The Kano model was used and inserted into KE to exhibit the relationship between service attribute performance and customer emotional response. Essentially, the Kano model categorises service attribute quality into three major groups (must-be [M], one-dimensional [O] and attractive [A]). The findings of a case study that involved 100 tourists who stayed in luxury 4- and 5-star hotels are presented. As a practical matter, this research provides insight on which service attributes deserve more attention with regard to their significant impact on customer emotional needs. Statement of Relevance: Apart from cognitive evaluation, emotions and hedonism play a big role in service encounters. Through a focus on delighting qualities of service attributes, this research enables service providers and managers to establish the extent to which they prioritise their improvement efforts and to always satisfy their customer emotions beyond expectation. Keywords: Kansei engineering, emotional feelings, Kano model, service

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead