Service industries have been, and will continue to be, largely responsible for much of the domestic and international economic growth in the USA. Service loyalty, which can be obtained by building relationships and providing excellent customer service, is often the key factor that builds...

A survey with 1,000 of the “top” service industry firms in the UK allowed the development of a checklist and benchmark results that enable managers to assess their firms’ service reliability without the need of external customer surveys. Offers research‐based evidence for the often...

Contemporary research on service quality and satisfaction has limitations. First, current satisfaction models treat the consumer as an isolated individual, not considering the social context of the service provision. Second, while satisfaction and quality are thought to be process outcomes, the...

One of the most unexamined assumptions marketing firms have made in recent years is that satisfaction alone will guarantee customer loyalty. Our research questions this assumption. We explored the correspondence between customer satisfaction and loyalty, and found as many as half of the...

Despite the increased attention being paid to service delivery, lengthy waits for service are still common. This paper provides a conceptual and empirical examination of the effects of perceived employee action and customer prior experience, on reactions to service delays. The results of a field...

When designing a guarantee, service firms have a choice ‐the unconditional that guarantees customer satisfaction or the specific, which guarantees a major aspect of the service such as on‐time delivery. To date, this decision has been based primarily on anecdotal observations. This...

The insurance industry has placed increased emphasis on service quality and customer satisfaction as companies seek to compete with generally undifferentiated products. This attention to customer service dictates that insurers understand exactly what elements individuals use to assess their...

In today’s increasingly competitive environment, it is important to measure the service firm’s performance in the areas which contribute most significantly to the client’s overall satisfaction. Previous research indicates that marketing research clients are concerned with a research...

The first objective of the study was to identify and classify product‐related information that customers expect to receive in interpersonal encounters with employees in a given retail environment. The second objective of the study was to compare the “ability” of both service employees and...

Word‐of‐mouth communication (WOM) is a dominant force in the marketplace for services. However, the current body of research provides little insight into the nature of WOM in the service marketplace. Reports the results of a content‐analytic study that provides insight into WOM’s content...