Journal of Services Marketing

Lydia L. Gan; Ramin C. Maysami; Hian Chye Koh

2008 Journal of Services Marketing

doi: 10.1108/08876040810881678

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyze Singapore's diverse cardholders in search of variations among demographic groups, credit card profiles, and their perceptions with regard to credit card ownership and use. It then aims to discuss possible reasons governing Singaporeans' credit card ownership and use. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted, decision trees were then constructed using Chi‐square automatic interaction detection algorithm (CHAID) and SPSS software AnswerTree to examine the association between the number of credit cards (target variable) and the demographic characteristics, perceptions and other credit card‐related variables. Findings – The number of credit cards was found to be significantly influenced by income and gender as well as perceptions that include “credit card leads to overspending”, “savings as payment source”, “unreasonable interest rates”, “credit card as status symbol”. The number of credit cards was also affected by credit card‐related variables such as missing payments sometimes, frequency of use, entertainment expenditures, and petrol purchase. Practical implications – This research provides an in‐depth understanding of Singaporean multiple cardholders, thus it is useful in designing marketing strategies for card‐issuers as well as anti‐debt strategies for policy‐makers in Singapore. Originality/value – Despite the importance of consumer credit, virtually no literature or research exists on the ownership and use of credit cards in Singapore, so this paper intends to close this gap. Further, by combining the demographics, cardholders' profiles and usage patterns with the respondents' perceptions concerning credit card ownership and use, our study offers a richer analysis to explain consumer behavior than previous literatures.

Pavlos A. Vlachos; Adam P. Vrechopoulos

2008 Journal of Services Marketing

doi: 10.1108/08876040810881687

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the theoretical and empirical meaningfulness of a composite model of behavioral intentions in a pure mobile internet services context. Design/methodology/approach – This paper starts by investigating the influence of seven service quality determinants on overall service quality perceptions, employing a qualitative research design. Next, these determinants are embedded in a holistic nomological framework depicting the complex interrelationships between prominent service evaluation constructs and behavioral intentions. The model is tested employing partial‐least squares structural equation modeling in the context of a field experiment involving the delivery of music content over real‐world mobile networks and devices. Findings – The study finds that content quality, contextual quality, device quality, connection quality and privacy concerns have a strong positive influence on service quality perceptions. Overall, service quality, value and satisfaction have a simultaneous direct effect on behavioral intentions. Research limitations/implications – Consumer decision making is complex, and, for gaining favorable consumer behavior, it does not suffice to manage and measure service quality, satisfaction and value in an isolated manner but rather in a collective way. Practical implications – So as to adopt mobile e‐commerce services consumers require to be rewarded with high levels of outcome quality (e.g., wide selection of music songs, sonic and video quality), anytime and most importantly at any place. Originality/value – Study results imply that when it comes to specifying service evaluation frameworks employing service quality, satisfaction and value‐operationalized at a cumulative level traditional exchange contexts are not different from electronic commerce exchanges.

Tony Garry

2008 Journal of Services Marketing

doi: 10.1108/08876040810881696

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore the role of affect evoked among customers of differing expertise within a business‐to‐business credence service context and examine how this affects overall satisfaction judgements. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on the affect and satisfaction literature, the paper examines affective reactions to service delivery within multi‐national and regional corporate legal services markets. A two‐stage methodology is adopted incorporating explorative interviews and a survey comprising 252 users of corporate legal services. Findings – Findings suggest the customer's ability to form expectation and performance assessments about the core service may have a moderating influence on affective reactions within a business‐to‐business credence service context. Customers of differing expertise will vary in the way they set service expectations and evaluate service delivery in relation to the technical, functional and affective components. Practical implications – Organisations should devote effort to devising appropriate service delivery processes that are pertinent to the individual customer. This in turn has implications for the recruitment, training and empowerment of employees in credence services that have traditionally focused on technical qualifications and experiential knowledge as the key drivers of human resource management strategies such as recruitment and reward systems. Originality/value – This paper contributes towards an understanding of the role of customer expertise on affect evoked within business‐to‐business credence services.

J. Enrique Bigné; Anna S. Mattila; Luisa Andreu

2008 Journal of Services Marketing

doi: 10.1108/08876040810881704

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine cognitive and affective antecedents and consequences of satisfaction in the context of hedonic services. Design/methodology/approach – Two studies were conducted using hedonic services. The study sample was composed of 400 visitors to two types of leisure and tourism services (interactive museum, and theme park). Findings – The results indicate that the impact of satisfaction is not limited to loyalty; rather its effects extend to other behavioral responses such as consumers' willingness to pay more for the service. Moreover, exceeding pre‐purchase expectations amplifies consumers' on‐the‐spot behaviors such as souvenir purchases. The study findings also highlight the salience of emotions in understanding consumer responses to hedonic services. Specifically, pleasure is positively linked to both satisfaction and loyalty behaviors. Research limitations/implications – Future research should incorporate other measures tapping into consumers' on‐the‐spot behaviors; take into account different time frames, in order to measure the effects of consumer satisfaction in the period t +1; and use other types of hedonic services. Practical implications – Practical implications for pleasure‐driven services, including most experiential services such as leisure and travel services, restaurants and “hip” retail outlets. Originality/value – This paper fulfils an identified need to study the relationships between emotional variables, consumer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. It develops a comprehensive model to analyze satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the context of hedonic services. It introduces on‐the‐spot behaviors, referring to consumers' efforts to tangibilize the experience.

Lukas P. Forbes

2008 Journal of Services Marketing

doi: 10.1108/08876040810881713

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on non‐internet‐based self‐service technologies through the presentation of failure and recovery strategies employed by service firms using self‐service forms of interaction. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs the critical incident technique using 508 customer responses to present nine failures and nine recovery strategies used by self‐service technology firms. It presents data on post‐recovery satisfaction levels and propensity to switch behavior. The paper also compares findings in the non‐internet self‐service technology context to findings from e‐tail and bricks and mortar settings. Findings – Findings indicate that: non‐internet self‐service technology customers experience different types of service failure relative to traditional retail and e‐tail settings; non‐internet self‐service technology firms employ a different series of recovery strategies relative to traditional retail and e‐tail settings; and post‐recovery switching by customers can be high even with satisfying experiences. Originality/value – This paper strengthens the existing failure and recovery literature by presenting data on the largest growing sector of the service industry, self‐service technologies, and the largest sector within self‐service technologies (non‐internet purchases). These findings will have value to traditional firms looking to expand to their channels in addition to firms currently experiencing customer dissatisfaction.

Michael Lynn; Glenn Withiam

2008 Journal of Services Marketing

doi: 10.1108/08876040810881722

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline the business issues surrounding tipping and its alternatives, to summarize what is known about those issues, and to identify questions in need of further research. Design/methodology/approach – Objectives are achieved via conceptual analysis and review of relevant literature. Findings – The paper finds that voluntary tipping, service charges, and service‐inclusive pricing offer different sets of costs and benefits, so that no one policy is always the best. The principal benefits to service firms of voluntary tipping are that it lowers nominal prices, increases profits through price discrimination, motivates up‐selling and service, attracts talented workers, and lowers FICA tax payments. However, tipping also motivates discrimination in service delivery, gives servers surplus income that could go the firms' bottom line, increases the risk of income tax audits, and opens firms up to adverse impact lawsuits. Practical implications – No one tipping policy is always the best. Service industry executives and managers should carefully weigh each of eight different issues (outlined together for the first time here) to identify the best tipping policy for their circumstances. Originality/value – Tipping has received little attention in service marketing. Furthermore, there is no good, published source of guidance to help service industry executives and managers make decisions about tipping policies. This paper addresses these voids by providing and discussing a comprehensive list of the pros and cons of tipping and its alternatives from a business perspective.