Piyush Sharma

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.

Impact of store environment on impulse buying behavior

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the process by which four store environment (music, light, employee, and layout) and two individual characteristics (shopping enjoyment tendency (SET) and impulse buying tendency (IBT)) influence impulse buying behavior through positive and negative affect, and urge to buy impulsively. Design/methodology/approach – The data were obtained using a structured questionnaire from 733 respondents in a mall survey conducted in Chennai, South India. Findings – In the structural model tested with AMOS, the authors found that store environment drove impulse buying (IB) through positive affect and urge. Results also showed that the personality variables (SET and IBT) influenced IB through positive affect and urge. This paper did not find support for the relationship between negative affect and urge. Research limitations/implications – Theoretically, the authors add to the list of antecedents of impulse buying, and to the outcomes of store environment. From a managerial viewpoint,...

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...

Counterfeit proneness: Conceptualisation and scale development

Abstract Counterfeiting is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world across a wide range of product categories, including music, movies, food, computer software, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, and machinery parts. Prior research focuses on deceptive counterfeiting in which the consumers are not aware about buying counterfeit products, with little attention to non-deceptive counterfeiting in which consumers knowingly purchase counterfeit products. Most of this research is fragmented and exploratory in nature, resulting in mixed or inconclusive findings that leave many important questions unanswered. For example, it is still not clear why some customers are more prone to buying counterfeit products compared to others. We address this important gap by conceptualising counterfeit proneness (CFP), an individual-level psychological trait that relates closely with counterfeit purchase behaviour. We also develop a scale to measure this trait and validate it through a series of empirical studies. Finally, we discuss some limitations of our approach and directions for future research.

Gender and age as moderators in the service evaluation process

Purpose – Prior research exploring the relationships among sacrifice, service quality, value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in service evaluation models did not consider customer characteristics. This study aims to test the moderating effects of two demographic variables (i.e. gender and age) on all the relationships in the “comprehensive” service evaluation model.Design/methodology/approach – Responses from a diverse group of shoppers (n=2,727) in six retail categories (cosmetics, electronics, fashion, jewelry, telecom services, and department stores) were examined using structural equation modeling.Findings – The negative relationship between sacrifice and perceived value, and the positive association of perceived value and satisfaction with behavioral intentions, is stronger for the male and older customers; whereas the positive association of service quality with satisfaction and value is stronger for female and younger customers.Research limitations/implications – The study examined behavio...

Exploring impulse buying and variety seeking by retail shoppers: towards a common conceptual framework

Abstract  Impulse buying and variety seeking are both low-effort feelings-based behaviours with similar psychological origins. However, there is little research exploring the common sociopsychological processes regulating these behaviours. This gap is addressed with a conceptual framework incorporating the discrepancy between actual and optimum stimulation levels as the driver of both the behaviours, and self-monitoring as the moderator of interpersonal influences on these. Findings from a field-survey-based study with retail shoppers show that both the behaviours are responses to exploratory urges triggered by lower stimulation levels. Moreover, high self-monitors exhibit greater impulsiveness in private and seek greater variety in public compared to low self-monitors. The paper concludes with a discussion on its conceptual and managerial contribution along with some of its limitations and directions for future research.

Complainers versus non-complainers: a multi-national investigation of individual and situational influences on customer complaint behaviour

Abstract One of the least understood areas in customer complaint behaviour (CCB) research is why some customers complain and others do not in similar dissatisfaction situations. Prior research has explored differences in customer characteristics between complainers and non-complainers, but not in association with relevant situational factors. This gap is addressed with a new conceptual framework incorporating two situational variables – customer dissatisfaction and involvement – and two consumer traits – impulsivity and self-monitoring. Several hypotheses about their main and interaction effects are tested in two different contexts, using a survey-based study in three countries (Singapore, South Korea, and the United States). Specifically, it is shown that CCB is positively associated with involvement and impulsivity, and negatively with self-monitoring. Involvement and impulsivity are shown to moderate the association between dissatisfaction and CCB positively, and self-monitoring moderates it negatively. Some implications and directions for future research are also discussed.

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...

Exploring customer reactions to offshore call centers: toward a comprehensive conceptual framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating influence of attitude toward offshore call centers (OCCs) and brand image of the service provider firm on the relationships among perceived service quality (SQ), customer satisfaction (CS), complaint (CI) and repeat purchase (RP) intentions.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 285 adult shoppers with prior experience with OCCs were recruited using mall‐intercept approach in a large mid‐Western city in the USA. A structured questionnaire was used to record their perceptions about their service provider using OCCs. Structural equation modeling was used to test the measurement and basic structural model, along with multi‐group analysis to test the moderating effects. Multiple moderated regression analysis was also used to verify the moderating effects.Findings – As expected, SQ was found positively associated with CS, and CS was negatively associated with CI but positively with RP. Moreover, attitude toward OCC positively moderated the link...

Investigating Impulse Buying and Variety Seeking: Towards a General Theory of Hedonic Purchase Behaviors

Impulse buying (IB) and variety seeking (VS) are both quite prevalent among today’s consumers influencing their day-to-day judgments and decision-making, making their study significant and relevant to the study of modern consumer’s behavior for academic researchers as well as marketing practitioners (Kacen and Lee 2002; Ratner and Kahn 2002). Both these behaviors are also classified as hedonic purchase behaviors influenced by feelings rather than logical thinking and motivated by psychosocial needs rather than functional benefits (Baumgartner 2002). However, despite these similarities on one hand and importance for practitioners on the other, there is almost no published empirical research investigating VS in conjunction with IB, which may have probably supported a general theory of hedonic purchase behaviors. This gap is addressed in this study by investigating the association of several relevant traits with both these behaviors, using an experimental approach.