Jackie L.M. Tam

Demystifying Intercultural Service Encounters: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework

Customers and employees from different cultures are increasingly interacting with each other. However, there is little research in this area and it focuses mostly on the customers’ perspective. This article presents a conceptual framework for intercultural service encounters applicable to both customers and employees. Findings from an exploratory qualitative study show that perceived cultural distance and intercultural competence influence inter-role congruence, interaction comfort, adequate and perceived service levels, and satisfaction. These findings have important managerial implications for managing the expectations and perceptions of customers and employees involved in the intercultural service encounters and improving their satisfaction with the service experience.

Mapping relationships in China: guanxi dynamic approach

One of the major hot research topics is relationship marketing. However, limited research has been carried out on the complex notion of guanxi (literally, relationship) in Chinese society. Misunderstandings and misconceptions concerning this significant topic persist. Aims to explore the mapping of guanxi in relationship marketing so as to present a comprehensive guanxi model suitable for businessmen in a Chinese context. Case examples were also used to test the model in a real‐life situation. Both theoretical and managerial implications are given. The theoretical framework includes a new model of various systems: guanxi perceptual map, routings and yin‐yang dynamic. The managerial implications explore guanxi mechanisms and different dynamic perspectives with mind‐heart and insider‐outsider dimensions. In addition, recommendations for future research are made.

A lifestyle analysis of female consumers in greater China

This study compares the lifestyles of female consumers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, which together make up Greater China. The investigation revealed that significant differences exist among the three groups of female consumers in nine different areas. These are (a) women’s role and perception, (b) family orientation, (c) home cleanliness, (d) brand consciousness, (e) price consciousness, (f) self-confidence, (g) addiction to work, (h) health consciousness, and (i) environmental consciousness. Although the women studied in the three groups were found to be heavily influenced by Confucianism, they were also affected by western culture to varying degrees. Thus, the three groups were found to have a mixture of traditional and modern values. Hong Kong women were found to favor a more modern view of the role of women than their counterparts in China and Taiwan. However, women in China, especially the younger ones, were quickly adopting new values and Western ideas. The authors foresee that female consumers in Greater China will become increasingly similar in their lifestyles in the near future.

Interactive selling: a dynamic framework for services

In the 1990s and into the twenty‐first century, there has been a growing interest in understanding the development of service relationships. Trust and satisfaction have been highly recognized in the literature as effective elements for establishing successful relationships. However, little is known regarding their importance in cultivating relationships in an interactive‐selling context. The present study attempts to examine the influence of behavior and performance of salespersons on customers’ trust and satisfaction and, in turn, their anticipations of future interactions with the salesperson in the context of insurance services. A survey was conducted with customers from a large UK insurance company based in Hong Kong. The results show that satisfaction, the salesperson’s self‐disclosure and relation orientation significantly influenced future business opportunities. From the findings, a dynamic framework incorporating a set of interactive elements will be proposed. Managerial implications and directions for future research will be outlined and suggested.

Brand familiarity: its effects on satisfaction evaluations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effects of brand familiarity on satisfaction evaluations and behavioral intentions.Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal survey involving pre‐purchase measures and post‐purchase measures was conducted with consumers in a restaurant setting. The hypotheses were assessed through LISREL methodology.Findings – The results showed that there are some similarities and differences among customers with different levels of brand familiarity regarding satisfaction formation and behavioral intentions.Research limitations/implications – A self‐reported item was used to measure brand familiarity. Although there was some evidence to support that the measure captured what it was intended to measure, it would be desirable to develop a multi‐item scale for this construct. There is also a need to extend the findings to other service industries.Practical implications – Marketers should familiarize customers with a service while capturing opportunities to...

Intercultural service encounters (ICSE): an extended framework and empirical validation

Purpose – This paper aims to extend the intercultural service encounters (ICSE) framework using role theory and information asymmetry perspective, to hypothesize differences in the strength of many relationships based on service role (customers versus employees).Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the results of a field‐experiment with 204 restaurant employees and 241 customers in Hong Kong using a service failure scenario and photographs of Western versus Asian customers to manipulate perceived cultural distance.Findings – Perceived cultural distance has a stronger negative effect on inter‐role congruence, interaction comfort has a stronger positive effect on perceived service level and inter‐role congruence on adequate service level, for customers versus employees. Intercultural competence has a stronger positive effect on inter‐role congruence for employees versus customers, and it moderates the influence of perceived cultural distance on interaction comfort and inter‐role congruence.Resea...

The moderating role of perceived risk in loyalty intentions: an investigation in a service context

Purpose – The objectives of this study are twofold: to investigate the impact of service encounter quality dimensions on perceived value, customer satisfaction, and loyalty, and to examine the moderating effect of perceived risk on the relationship of loyalty with perceived value and customer satisfaction in high contact services.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was adopted. Data were collected from customers who had used either hairdressing services or health care services in the past three months. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the validity of the measures and structural equation modeling was used to assess the hypothesized relationships.Findings – Technical quality and empathy were found to display a positive effect on satisfaction in both hairstylist and physician samples. Physical environment was found to display a positive effect on satisfaction in the physician sample, but not in the hairstylist sample, and its effect on perceived value was non‐significant in ...

Linking quality improvement with patient satisfaction: a study of a health service centre

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically the impact of improvement in service‐delivery quality on customer satisfaction and repeat patronage, in the context of health services.Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal study of patients at a health care centre in Hong Kong assessed the effect of quality improvements made in response to the findings of its first phase, with respect to patient satisfaction and intention to revisit. Data were collected by questionnaire‐based interviews with more than 1,000 patients visiting the centre.Findings – Exploratory factor analysis, varimax rotation and t‐tests show that basing a service quality improvement programme on feedback from the patient survey did improve satisfaction and intention to revisit. Conclusions include the importance of management commitment to quality for effective outcomes.Research limitations/implications – The results are based on the responses of clients of a single health centre, during surveys conducted outside th...

Research note:The psychographic segmentation of the female market in Greater China

Attempts to segment the female consumers’ market in Greater China (the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) by employing principal component factor analysis and cluster analysis. Psychographic dimensions were generated and the factor scores were computed and used in cluster analysis to develop psychographic segments of the female consumers’ market in Greater China. Four distinct segments were identified and these were labelled as “conventional women” (40.7 per cent of the sample), “contemporary females” (21.9 per cent), “searching singles” (19.4 per cent) and “followers” (18.1 per cent).

Examining the role of attribution and intercultural competence in intercultural service encounters

Purpose – This study aims to develop a model based on attribution theory and intercultural literature to explain the underlying customer satisfaction process in intercultural service encounters. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interviews were used to develop an understanding of customer experience and evaluations in intercultural service encounters. A quasi-experiment with 236 customers was used to empirically examine the relationships between perceived culture distance, cultural attribution, intercultural competence and customer satisfaction. Findings – Perceived culture distance is positively related to customer satisfaction, with cultural attribution mediating the relationship between perceived cultural distance and customer satisfaction, and partially mediating the moderating effect of intercultural competence on the relationship between perceived culture distance and customer satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – This study focuses on cultural attribution in intercultural service e...