Sandra Streukens

The effect of service employees' technology readiness on technology acceptance

As much of the work of service employees is supported by IT, the quality of the service often depends on how the technology is used. Most employees only use a fraction of the functionality available on their desk-top. This may also depend on their personality. We performed research on the relationship of personality and technology acceptance. In our study we combined the technology readiness index (TRI) and TAM into one model. Specifically, we measured the relation between TRIs personality trait dimensions - optimism, innovativeness, discomfort, and insecurity - and the cognitive dimensions of TAM. Data was collected from 810 employees of a multi-site financial service provider. Analysis revealed that personality traits had the expected impact on user perceptions. Surprisingly, Innovativeness was negatively related to usefulness.

The role of corporate image and company employment image in explaining application intentions

Due to a tight labour market, some Western organisations are now looking for new ways to attract highly qualified applicants. This paper examines the influence of the corporate image and the company employment image on the application intentions of graduate business students. We begin by investigating the dimensional composition of these images, both by literature search and empirically. Second, we determine their influence on the application intentions. The intermediary role of information use will also receive attention. Our results show that both types of images have independent significant positive effects on the intentions to apply and are thus important and valuable tools on the labour market, although strongly different.

Customer expectation dimensions of voice‐to‐voice service encounters: a scale‐development study

Listening to the voice of the customer has been embraced in marketing theory and practice for a long time. However, the wide scale implementation of call centers has only recently enabled managers to take this adage to the next level. At the same time, it is acknowledged that the evaluation of service delivery often depends on the so‐called “service encounter”, or the time of interaction between the service firm and customer. Extensive research has been conducted in the field of traditional face‐to‐face encounters, but no attempt has yet been made to categorize customer expectations with regard to employee behavior during voice‐to‐voice encounters. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a measurement instrument that identifies key customer expectation dimensions with regard to call center representative (CCR) behavior. Based on the services marketing literature, 13 potential attributes were empirically tested on an effective sample of 206 respondents. This resulted in a model consisting of four different sub‐scales that were labeled “adaptiveness”, “assurance”, “empathy”, and “authority”. The results of the validity‐ and reliability‐testing confirm the solidity of the measurement instrument.

Service innovation and electronic word‐of‐mouth: is it worth listening to?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate what discussants in internet based discussion forums talk about. Investigates electronic word of mouth (e‐WOM) as a potential source of information for service innovation. The aim is to derive four core categories of unique dialogues that provide valuable information to service innovation.Design/methodology/approach – Apart from Harrison‐Walkers effort to develop a scale of measuring WOM, disclosing the inside of electronic word‐of‐mouth has never been done before. For this reason a qualitative approach using Netnography was adopted. The paper analyzes the content of all postings taking place during 100 days in five defined discussion forums on the internet.Findings – The results indicate that conversations taking place in electronic discussion forums can be divided into four core categories, i.e. information request, usage experience, business practice issues, and comments pertaining to new product launches.Research limitations/implications – The stu...

Boost customer loyalty with online support: the case of mobile telecoms providers

The paper explores the effect of customer satisfaction with online supporting services on loyalty to providers of an offline core service. Supporting services are provided to customers before, during or after the purchase of a tangible or intangible core product, and have the purpose of enhancing or facilitating the use of this product. The Internet has the potential to dominate all other marketing channels when it comes to the interactive and personalized communication that is considered quintessential for supporting services. Our study shows that the quality of online supporting services powerfully affects satisfaction with the provider and customer loyalty through its effect on online value and enjoyment. Managerial implications are provided.

Reconsidering Nonlinearity and Asymmetry in Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Models: An Empirical Study in Three Retail Service Settings

The use of symmetric linear functional forms to describe the relationships among customer evaluative judgments is omnipresent in services research. However, according to several researchers, the use of symmetric linear functions to model the relationships among customer evaluative judgments leads to serious model misspecification. Although several asymmetric nonlinear functional forms have been proposed, only modest empirical evidence is available on the superiority of these more complex model specifications. Based on a formal empirical comparison in multiple service settings, we find that asymmetric nonlinear functions do not possess superior explanatory power compared to symmetric linear functional forms.

Analyzing Factorial Data Using PLS: Application in an Online Complaining Context

Structural equation modeling (SEM) can be employed to emulate more traditional analysis techniques, such as MANOVA, discriminant analysis, and canonical correlation analysis. Recently, it has been realized that this emulation is not restricted to covariance-based SEM, but can easily be extended to components-based SEM, or partials least squares (PLS) path analysis (Guinot et al. 2001; Tenenhaus et al. 2005; Wetzels et al. 2005). In this paper, we will apply PLS path analysis to a fixed-effects, between-subjects factorial design in an online complaint-handling context. The results of our empirical study reveal that satisfaction with online recovery is determined by the level of both procedural and distributive justice. Furthermore, customers’ satisfaction with the way their complaints are handled has a positive influence on the customers’ intentions to repurchase and to spread positive word of mouth. Taking into account the entire chain of effects, we find that the influence of justice perceptions on behavioral intentions is almost fully mediated by satisfaction. From a managerial perspective, the results of our study provide insight into how to design effective complaint-handling strategies in order to maintain a satisfied and loyal customer base.

Online complaining: understanding the adoption process and the role of individual and situational characteristics

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, develop and test a conceptual model to understand customers’ intention to adopt online complaining. Second, to assess two competing perspectives regarding elaboration likelihood for the moderating impact of individual differences. Design/methodology/approach – A scenario‐based survey was used to assess respondents’ beliefs, attitude, and usage intentions toward online complaining. Furthermore, individual and situational characteristics were assessed. The data were analyzed using partial least squares path modeling. Findings – Attitude toward online complaining is a function of both process and outcome beliefs. It is also influenced by individual characteristics, but remains unaffected by situational characteristics. In contrast, usage intentions are influenced by situational characteristics, but by personal differences. For the moderating impact of affect‐based personality characteristics, the often used cognitive effort perspective to elaboration likelihood is not supported. Rather the consumption value perspective applies for these variables. Research limitations/implications – The use of a single setting, as well as the use of scenarios, may negatively impact external validity. Future research is needed to further explain the contradictory perspectives regarding information processing. Practical implications – The results provide insight into determinants of customer online complaining. This opens up new possibilities to increase the number of complainants in case of service failures and for firms to take corrective action. Originality/value – To the authors’ best knowledge, this is a first empirical study aimed at understanding what drives online customer complaining.

PLS FAC-SEM: an illustrated step-by-step guideline to obtain a unique insight in factorial data

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an illustrated step-by-step guideline of the partial least squares factorial structural equation modeling (PLS FAC-SEM) approach. This approach allows researchers to assess whether and how model relationships vary as a function of an underlying factorial design, both in terms of the design factors in isolation (i.e. main effects) as well as their joint impact (i.e. interaction effects). Design/methodology/approach After an introduction of its building blocks as well as a comparison with related methods (i.e. n-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multi-group analysis (MGA)), a step-by-step guideline of the PLS FAC-SEM approach is presented. Each of the steps involved in the PLS FAC-SEM approach is illustrated using data from a customer value study. Findings On a methodological level, the key result of this research is the presentation of a generally applicable step-by-step guideline of the PLS FAC-SEM approach. On a context-specific level, the findings demonstrate how the predictive ability of several key customer value measurement methods depends on the type of offering (feel-think), the level of customer involvement (low-high), and their interaction (feel-think offerings×low-high involvement). Originality/value This is a first attempt to apply the factorial structural equation models (FAC-SEM) approach in a PLS-SEM context. Consistent with the general differences between PLS-SEM and covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM), the FAC-SEM approach, which was originally developed for CB-SEM, therefore becomes available for a larger amount of and different types of research situations.

What drives the intention to complain

[Lervik-Olsen, Line] BI Norwegian Business Sch, Dept Mkt, Oslo, Norway. [Lervik-Olsen, Line] Norwegian Sch Econ, Ctr Serv Innovat, Dept Strategy & Mkt, Bergen, Norway. [Andreassen, Tor Wallin] Norwegian Sch Econ NHH, Dept Strategy & Management, Bergen, Norway. [Streukens, Sandra] Hasselt Univ, Dept Mkt & Strategy, Fac Business Econ, Hasselt, Belgium.