Wansoo Kim

Determinants of Restaurant Customers' Loyalty Intentions: A Mediating Effect of Relationship Quality

ABSTRACT. This study examines the relationships among perceived quality, perceived value, relationship quality (customer satisfaction and trust), and loyalty intentions in the full‐service restaurant industry. Following Baron and Kennys guidelines, the current study also tested a mediating effect of relationship quality on loyalty intentions. Data were collected using an on‐line survey. The results of a series of regression analyses using five regression equations supported the hypothesized relationships among study constructs. In addition, relationship quality was found to be a partial mediator in the relationship between perceived value and loyalty intentions. Theoretical/managerial implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Customer Orientation of Service Employees and Rapport: Influences On Service-Outcome Variables in Full-Service Restaurants

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the construct of “customer orientation in service employees” (COSE) on service-outcome variables. In particular, the study assesses (a) the direct influence of COSE on two service-outcome variables (“customer satisfaction” and “affective commitment”); (b) the indirect influence of COSE on these two variables via the mediating construct of “rapport”; and (c) ultimately, the effect of COSE on “repurchase intention” via the other variables. The article develops a conceptual model of the constructs involved (COSE, “rapport,” “customer satisfaction,” “affective commitment,” and “repurchase intention”) and proposes hypotheses regarding the relationships within the model. The conceptual model and hypotheses are then tested in a sample of customers of full-service restaurants. The study finds that COSE enhances customer satisfaction and affective commitment, and that rapport mediates the effects of COSE on these variables. The study also finds that COSE ultimately enhances repurchase intention via these variables. The study thus confirms the importance of COSE and rapport in enhancing customer satisfaction and retention in the food-service industry.

The Effects of Relational Benefits On Customers' Perception of Favorable Inequity, Affective Commitment, and Repurchase Intention in Full-Service Restaurants

The purpose of this study is to investigate how relational benefits (including confidence benefits, social benefits, and special treatment benefits) affect customers perceptions of favorable inequity and affective commitment, and thus ultimately affect customer retention. The study first develops and presents a conceptual model of the relationships that exist between the constructs of “relational benefits,” “favorable inequity,” “affective commitment,” and “repurchase intention.” This model is then empirically tested using 411 sample long-term customers of full-service restaurants. The results indicate that relational benefits trigger customers perceptions of being favorably treated and that these perceptions, in turn, induce customers to form an affective commitment and repurchase intention with respect to particular restaurants. The study confirms the strategic importance of relational benefits in fostering relationships with long-term customers in the context of full-service restaurants.

The antecedent role of customer-to-employee relationships in the development of customer-to-firm relationships

In this study, a customer-to-employee (C–E) relationship construct is employed to test the antecedent role of C–E relationships in the development of customer-to-firm relationships. The authors propose a conceptual model of the relationships that are hypothesized to exist among the constructs of ‘rapport’, ‘relational benefits’, ‘affective commitment’, and ‘dedicational behaviours’ of customers with respect to full-service restaurants. This study demonstrates that rapport has a positive influence on customers perceptions of relational benefits and that rapport and enhanced perceptions of relational benefits induce customers to develop affective commitment and form intentions to engage in dedicational behaviours towards restaurants.

Effects of attitudes vs experience of workplace fun on employee behaviors: Focused on Generation Y in the hospitality industry

Purpose – The aim of this study is to reveal how Generation Y employees attitude toward workplace fun affects their experienced workplace fun, job satisfaction, task performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors toward individuals (OCBI) in the hospitality business context.Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual model of this study was tested based on responses from 234 hospitality students in the USA who are Generation Yers and had worked in the hospitality industry for more than three months.Findings – This study revealed that Generation Y employees attitude toward workplace fun positively affects their experienced workplace fun. In turn, Generation Yers experienced workplace fun showed positive direct effects on their job satisfaction, task performance, and OCBI.Research limitations/implications – First, the older Gen. Yers who are 26 or older were underrepresented in this study. Also, Gen. Yers who are less than college educated are not included in this study. Second, a nation‐wide eco...

Customers' Responses to Customer Orientation of Service Employees in Full‐Service Restaurants: A Relational Benefits Perspective

The interpersonal interaction between service employees and customers influences service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. The importance of maintaining an enduring relationship with customers is generally accepted in the marketing literature and field. In an effort to incorporate these two convictions, this study was designed to investigate how the customer orientation of service employees (COSE) affects customers perceptions of relational benefits and ultimately contributes to repurchase intention in the full‐service restaurant context. Findings indicate that relational benefits, enhanced by COSE, positively influence customers favorable inequity perception, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intention.

Antecedents of Service Employees' Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in Full-Service Restaurants in Korea:

In the aggregate, employees organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) promote organizational performance in many ways and thereby gain significance as market competition gets fierce. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships affect the service employees OCBs. Following other research approaches, the structural equation model presented here hypothesizes the mediating roles of two forms of justice between LMX constructs and OCB constructs using the following constructs. The LMX forms are perceived contribution and affect, the justice constructs are interactional justice and distributive justice, and the OCB types are those directed toward supervisors and those directed at the organization. Based on an analysis of 293 responses collected from fifty-four full-service restaurants in a metropolitan city in South Korea, this study concludes that both forms of LMX significantly influence employees perceptions of justice (that is, both interactional and distributive). Those perceptions, in turn, significantly affect the employees tendency to engage in OCBs.

Moderating role of a priori customer–firm relationship in service recovery situations

This study attempts to verify the moderating roles of the customer–firm relationship with regard to customers responses to service failure and recovery. The hypotheses were tested based on the responses from 480 full-service restaurant customers, using t-tests and moderated regression analyzes. The findings indicate that in general, high relational customers tend to have high recovery expectations but, at the same time, respond more favorably to recovery efforts than do low relational customers in both low and high recovery situations. These results appear to stem from the wider zones of tolerance of high relational customers than those of low relational customers. This study demonstrates the importance of adopting the concept of zone of tolerance for accurate understandings of customers responses to service failure and recovery.

Emerging bicycle tourism and the theory of planned behavior

ABSTRACT In this study, we investigated the process of travelers’ decision formation for bicycle touring as a form of sustainable tourism activity. We extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB), using personal norm and past behavior as predictors and the attractiveness of unsustainable alternatives as a moderator. Results of the modeling comparison showed that our extended TPB model was superior to the original TPB in predicting intention. Our results from the structural analysis revealed that the hypothesized paths linking attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, personal norm, and intention were supported; and personal norm significantly mediated the impact of subjective norm on intention. Moreover, our proposition that bicycle travelers’ decision-making process would differ based on their level of the attractiveness of unsustainable alternatives was generally supported. Overall, our results help us clearly understand the role of volitional and non-volitional processes, personal norm, past behavior, and the attractiveness of unsustainable alternatives in explaining the intention formation of bike traveling.

Emerging youth tourism: fostering young travelers’ conservation intentions

ABSTRACT Greening is one of the most important issues faced by the tourism industry today. Nevertheless, theoretical and empirical research on young travelers’ sustainable behaviors is scarce. This study developed a conceptual framework involving biospheric value, environmental concern, environmental awareness, ascribed responsibility, and moral norm in order to better explain young travelers’ pro-environmental decision-making process. A total of seven hypotheses were proposed and tested using structural equation modeling. Results revealed that the postulated theoretical model satisfactorily accounted for three dimensions of young tourists’ environmentally responsible intentions; the study variables are all significantly related; and the mediating impact of moral norm and environmental concern was evident. Moreover, the prominent role of moral norm in forming intentions was noteworthy. Our findings from the invariance test further indicated that environmental awareness and ascribed responsibility acted as moderators. The implications of these results are discussed.