Sijun Wang

Disclosure Antecedents in an Online Service Context: The Role of Sensitivity of Information

The authors propose and find that the mixed results of prior research regarding disclosure antecedents are due in part to a failure to account for information sensitivity. Using prospect theory to examine willingness to disclose in an online service context, the authors propose and find that greater sensitivity of information requested produces weaker effects of customization benefits but stronger effects of information control and online privacy concern. The authors also find that customization benefits can overcome the negative effects of sensitive information requests when concern is lower or control is higher, and that perceived risk and firm trust are mechanisms through which disclosure antecedents operate. For theory, this research suggests that online disclosure models need to include sensitivity of information as a moderator. Moreover, the privacy paradox (consumers voice concerns but still disclose) may result from a failure to account for information sensitivity, since the authors find no effect of privacy concern on overall disclosure but find the predicted negative effect for higher sensitive information. For practice, our research suggests actionable strategies to aid online marketers in matching information requests with the needs and concerns of consumers by providing greater control and customization, enhancing firm trust, and adapting information requests to the situation.

Call center employee personality factors and service performance

Purpose – The challenge of attracting and retaining high performing call center employees is significant. Research in general has shown a link between personality factors and job performance. This study aims to focus on examining the relationship between personality factors and performance using service performance indicators and further, to study the role of emotional exhaustion in this relationship in the context of call centers.Design/methodology/approach – Using a structured questionnaire 194 call center employees and their supervisors were surveyed in eight call centers in five companies in the insurance and telecommunications industries.Findings – Results using structural equation modeling showed that, with the exception of extraversion/introversion, all of the personality dimensions of the five factor model: conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to new experience and emotional stability as well as locus of control were significantly related to one or more of the performance measures. Emotional...

Betrayal? Relationship quality implications in service recovery

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether high quality relationships buffer or magnify the negative impact of a failed service recovery on subsequent consumer attitudes and behaviors.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 264 online shoppers were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Respondents were asked to imagine themselves in a hypothetical failed service recovery scenario involving a multi‐channel retailer with whom they shop.Findings – Results from a MANCOVA analysis and SEM modeling indicate that, following a failed service recovery incident, high quality relationships present a challenge for the service provider. In accordance with the hypotheses, consumers with a high level of relationship quality will decrease their repurchase intentions to a greater extent; more strongly and negatively adjust their overall relationship quality; and react to the service recovery effort less favorably than those with lower levels of relationship quality.Research limitations/implications – ...

Employees' Decision Making in the Face of Customers' Fuzzy Return Requests

Frontline service employees frequently encounter customers’ fuzzy requests, defined as requests that are slightly or somewhat outside company policy but not completely unacceptable or detrimental to the company. Employees’ compliance decisions can profoundly affect customers, organizations, and employees themselves. However, the complex decision process in which service employees engage is largely unexplored. The authors draw from script and motivated reasoning theories, as well as qualitative interviews, to model employees’ responses to customers’ fuzzy requests in a retail setting. The results, which are based on a national survey of retail employees, indicate that employees with higher customer orientation and higher conflict avoidance tend to handle fuzzy return requests in a friendlier, more effortful manner, especially when customers demonstrate an affiliative style. In contrast, when customers display a dominant style, employees engage in motivated reasoning and perceive the request to be less legitimate, reducing their likelihood of complying. In addition, the employees’ perceived flexibility influences their compliance decisions, but punishment expectations do not. The authors conclude with some managerial implications, including better identification of these requests and more training of employees to handle them appropriately.

Frontline Service Employee Compliance With Customer Special Requests

As companies struggle to deliver excellent service, many find they need to understand and plan for a diverse array of customer requests. Some requests are unexpected and require employees to go beyond their usual job duties. These requests may be classified as special requests. Knowing how and when to comply with these requests is critical to the firm and the employee, given that failing to comply could negatively affect customer satisfaction, while complying may produce unwanted consequences for the firm. We use grounded theory and content analysis of critical incident special requests from frontline employees to develop a framework and classification scheme that categorizes customer special requests and employee assessments of these requests. Customer special requests were classified into four types of customer deficiencies—physical resources, knowledge, financial, and time. Employee assessments were categorized as positive compliance factors (motivations and ability) or deterrents to compliance, including policy or legal, potential risk, and lack of resources. These findings contribute to theory, as they represent the first effort to categorize customer special requests and employee responses to them. Companies need to be better informed about the types of requests employees receive so that employees can make the most appropriate decisions.

The Effect of Online versus Offline Retailer-Brand Image Incongruity on the Flow Experience

Given the importance of retailer-brand image, of particular importance today is how a firm can most successfully manage its image across channels. Studies show that incongruity between online versus offline retailer-brand images can affect consumer attitudes toward a firm’s website. This study extends previous work by incorporating flow, another important construct, into the examination of incongruity between retailer-brand images. The authors find that incongruity negatively and directly affects the flow experience, while also disrupting the effects of a website’s navigation performance on flow. The effects of these variables on attitude toward the websites and revisit intentions are also noted.

Responding to Customers’ “Gray” Requests: The Service Employee Dilemma

This research examines how service employees make the decision to comply with customer requests. In this paper, a unique type of customer request is studied: the “gray” request, a request in which the employee is asked to do something that is outside of their job description or outside of what they would normally do to deliver the service (but not something that is fraudulent or illegal). This research develops the gray request concept and provides a conceptual model to explain the circumstances by which gray requests occur and employees comply. Twenty-three qualitative interviews with employees from two different service firms in different industries are conducted. Three main motivational categories relating to why employees respond favorably to gray customer requests emerge: (1) the desire to help others (2) the desire to help the company and (3) the desire to help themselves. The organizational, customer, employee, and situational dimensions that determine when and if employees will respond favorably include: (1) the organization’s culture, the norm of flexibility, and the reward/incentive system (2) the customer demographics (i.e., loyal customer; elderly) (3) the personality factors of the employee (i.e., allocentrism) and (4) the situational factors (ability, ease, legality, safety, time constraints, type of request, and urgency).