Service validity and service reliability of search, experience and credence services: A scenario study

The purpose of this research is to add to our understanding of the antecedents of customer satisfaction by examining the effects of service reliability (Is the service “correctly” produced?) and service validity (Is the “correct” service produced?) of search, experience and credence services.\ud Design/methodology/approach – Service validity and service reliability were manipulated in scenarios describing service encounters with different types of services. Customer satisfaction was measured using questionnaires.\ud Findings – Service validity and service reliability independently affect customer satisfaction with search services. For experience services, service validity and service reliability are necessary conditions for customer satisfaction. For credence services, no effects of service validity were found but the effects of service reliability on customers' satisfaction were profound.\ud Research limitations/implications – Scenarios provided a useful method to investigate customer evaluation of different types of service situations. A limitation of this method was that the participants were not observed in a real service situation but had to give their opinion on hypothetical scenarios.\ud Practical implications – For search and credence services, it is possible to compensate low service validity by providing a highly reliable service. However, managers of experience services should be aware that little can be gained when either service validity or service reliability is faulty.\ud Originality/value – The present study provides empirical data on the effects of service reliability and the thus far neglected effects of service validity and integrates these (new) concepts in the model of information verification

Consumer Skepticism Toward New Products

The present article introduces the concept of consumer skepticism toward new products (CSTNP) as a more comprehensive notion of consumer skepticism than skepticism toward advertising. CSTNP is conceptualized and defined in relation to related constructs (doubt, disbelief, and distrust). The underlying structure of CSTNP is empirically examined and several antecedents and consequences of CSTNP are proposed and tested

Customer control and evaluation of service validity and reliability

A control and attribution model of service production and evaluation is proposed. Service production consists of the stages specification (input), realization (throughput), and outcome (output). Customers may exercise control over all three stages of the service. Critical factors of service production are service validity (is the correct service produced?) and reliability (is the service correctly produced?). With more control, customers feel more responsibility for and satisfaction with the service outcome. If this is the case, there is less attribution of service outcomes to the service provider and more to the customer, as a party in the service production. Self-perceptions and perceptual and attributional biases play a self-serving role to justify customer service engagement. Attributions of service outcomes determine perceptions of service quality and behavioral responses such as (dis)satisfaction, complaints, repeat buying, and service loyalty. These customer control and evaluation processes are captured in a set of propositions, advanced to serve future researc

Waiting experience and reversal theory

Waiting time is an important part of the journey for train passengers but little is known about the waiting experience and how this is related to the waiting environment and time perception. A few studies have been published over the years on how the process of estimating time actually works. The most important of these studies were the storage size model (Ornstein, 1969) and the attentional model (Zakay, 1989)

Revisiting the Malleable Self: Brand Effects on Consumer Self-Perceptions of Personality Traits

Four experiments examined the relationships between dimensions of brand personality and consumer self-perceptions of personality traits. We hypothesized and found that when consumers are exposed to brands, brand personality dimensions may affect individual assessments of personality traits. Study 1 found evidence that brand sincerity had an effect on ratings of consumer agreeableness. Study 2 showed that brand excitement affected self-perceptions of hedonism, moderated by brand exposure intensity. In Study 3, brand competence had an impact on self-perceptions of sophistication. Finally, in Study 4 results showed that brand ruggedness had an effect on extroversion, again moderated by brand exposure intensity

Interpersonal Communication and Compliance

Two field experiments examined the impact of the Disrupt-Then-Reframe (DTR) technique on compliance. This recently identified technique consists of a subtle, odd element in a typical scripted request (the disruption) followed by a persuasive phrase (the reframing). The authors argued that its impact is generalizable across interpersonal influence situations. In addition, based on the thought-disruption hypothesis, the authors expected that disrupting the sales script not only increases the impact of the new reframing but also increases the effectiveness of other persuasive elements embedded in the influence setting. Study 1 showed that the DTR technique fostered compliance with both commercial and nonprofit sales scripts. The results of Study 2 replicated this finding and were in line with the thought-disruption hypothesis: A familiar brand embedded in a DTR context resulted in more compliance (higher purchase rates) than when paired with a regular sales script