The purpose of this paper is to show how to identify red flags in letters responding to customer complaints and demonstrate elements of effective response letters.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how to identify red flags in letters responding to customer complaints and demonstrate elements of effective response letters.
Design/methodology/approach
Using actual form letter responses, the paper shows how to identify weaknesses in form letters and remedies for improving their credibility. Measurement criteria follow the concept of fairness which has roots in Kant's moral idealism theory.
Findings
The paper identifies key elements that should be included in credible form letters. A combination of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice is required for an effective response.
Practical implications
Tourism and hospitality managers issuing effective template responses (form letters) have the opportunity to improve consumer trust, loyalty, and future complaint intentions.
Originality/value
The training exercises provide examples for managers and consultants to teach employees how to develop effective responses to customer complaints.
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Doan T. Nguyen, Tom DeWitt and Rebekah Russell‐Bennett
While there have been numerous studies on the antecedents and consequences of service quality, there has been little investigation of the moderators of service quality. The…
Abstract
Purpose
While there have been numerous studies on the antecedents and consequences of service quality, there has been little investigation of the moderators of service quality. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effects of two moderators: service convenience and the social servicescape. The moderating effects are tested in two service settings: retail and hedonic (concert).
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 270 customers at kitchen display showrooms and 320 concert‐goers was undertaken. The results were analysed using regression analysis.
Findings
The results show support for ten of the 12 hypotheses. Service convenience moderated the relationships between perceived service quality and its three sub‐dimensions (interaction, environment, and outcome quality), differently in different settings (retail vs hedonic). This supports the authors' general argument that the outcome dimension tends to be more important to customers in a retail setting, while interaction and environment quality dimensions tend to be more important in hedonic service consumption.
Practical implications
These findings suggest that managers need to use different service management tactics in retail and hedonic service settings. Specifically managers in retail settings need to pay more attention to service convenience to achieve service quality and managers in hedonic settings should concentrate on the social servicescape.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to test the moderating factors of service convenience and social servicescape on service quality.
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Tom DeWitt, Larry C. Giunipero and Horace L. Melton
To demonstrate the linkage between Porter's cluster theory and supply chain management, and provide evidence of their potential joint positive impact on competitiveness and firm…
Abstract
Purpose
To demonstrate the linkage between Porter's cluster theory and supply chain management, and provide evidence of their potential joint positive impact on competitiveness and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines the linkage between cluster theory and supply chain management using data from a case study of the Amish furniture industry in Homes County, Ohio, USA.
Findings
Using the Amish furniture industry and a representative furniture firm as examples, the paper shows the positive impact of operating within an integrated supply chain in a geographically concentrated cluster.
Research limitations/implications
Use of a single case study approach limits the generalizability of the findings; the paper recommends further study of linkages in other industries and locations.
Practical implications
The study suggests that firms build competitive advantage by initially focusing primarily on local resources when selecting supply chain partners, rather than looking only for low cost advantage through distant sourcing.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the literature on business linkages by proposing an expanded definition of clusters as geographical concentrations of competing supply networks.
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Drew Martin and Arch G. Woodside
The purpose of this editorial is to introduce eight training exercises developed for tourism executive decision making.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this editorial is to introduce eight training exercises developed for tourism executive decision making.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper introduces the papers in this special issue and discusses the need for experiential learning techniques for adult learners.
Findings
It was found that applied learning exercises are more effective than cognitive learning experiences in adult education.
Originality/value
The paper provides an introduction to experiential learning exercises for tourism and hospitality training.
Details
Keywords
Suet Fong Chan, Dorothy DeWitt and Rhett Loban
Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is important when different cultural speakers learn Mandarin as a Foreign Language (MFL). The use of virtual reality (VR) has been…
Abstract
Purpose
Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is important when different cultural speakers learn Mandarin as a Foreign Language (MFL). The use of virtual reality (VR) has been shown to be effective for improving ICC. Hence, this study investigates a production-based instructional strategy where students use VR to view and create VR environments with cultural elements for learning MFL to determine if this strategy was effective with the current cohort of students (2023). In addition, it would be investigated whether there was a difference in ICC between the 2019 cohort and the 2023 cohort.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a quasi-experimental method to assess ICC using the Survey of student’s Intercultural Competence (SSIC) and gauged the improvement within the 2023 cohort. Next, the ICC between the 2023 and 2019 cohorts was compared to determine if there was a significant difference. Data was analysed using paired-samples t-tests and thematic analysis for the open-ended responses.
Findings
There was a significant improvement in ICC after the intervention for the 2023 cohort, which was supported with the open-ended response. However, the t-test results indicated no significant difference in ICC between the 2019 and 2023 cohorts. However, the 2023 cohort seemed to be more motivated, confident and eager to continue using VR. The findings indicate that VR when combined with an appropriate pedagogy could improve students ICC.
Originality/value
The use of VR and this production-based instructional strategy could be used in other languages and could possibly be used to improve linguistic and communication skills.
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In 1976, in a speech at Ruskin College, Oxford, Prime Minister James Callaghan asked ‘Why is it that such a high proportion of girls abandon science before leaving school?’ …
Abstract
In 1976, in a speech at Ruskin College, Oxford, Prime Minister James Callaghan asked ‘Why is it that such a high proportion of girls abandon science before leaving school?’ (Gillard, 2018). Little has changed over the last 40 years; a recent report from the National Audit Office (2018, p. 28) stated that only 8% of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) apprenticeships were taken up by women in 2016/2017 and that the shortage of STEM skills in the workforce is a key UK economic problem. However, just as the Aldridge marriage has been the source of considerable interest and the site of significant financial investment in terms of designer kitchens and expensive holidays, so has the issue of ‘girls in science’ been a consistently debated topic and taken up a large chunk of government and industry spending. Research (Archer et al., 2013) suggests that although children enjoy their science experiences in school, too few pupils aspire to a STEM career. It reveals that the pupils most likely to aspire to careers in science are those whose families have high ‘science capital’ which ‘refers to the science-related qualifications, understanding, knowledge (about science and “how it works”), interest and social contacts (e.g. “knowing someone who works in a science-related job”)’ (Archer et al., 2016, p. 3).
Episodes of The Archers are full of scientific talk, from herbal leys to plate meters. This chapter looks at how the science capital in Ambridge is shared. Why is Alice Carter an engineer and not Emma Grundy? Will Kiera Grundy choose physics A level? Who are the female STEM role models? How can the concept of science capital help us to understand the career paths of Ambridge residents? Will the young girls of Ambridge remedy the gender imbalance in STEM careers?
Mathieu Lajante and Nina Carolin Dohm
Service failures evoke negative customer emotions, which human agents respond to through emotional labor. In turn, customers empathize with the human agent, providing a satisfying…
Abstract
Purpose
Service failures evoke negative customer emotions, which human agents respond to through emotional labor. In turn, customers empathize with the human agent, providing a satisfying service recovery experience. However, robot agents could replace human agents and replicate emotional labor strategies. This study addresses whether customers empathize with apologetic robot agents and how it would affect the service recovery experience.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on emotional labor, social cognition and justice theory, two online scenario-based experiments (N1 = 411; N2 = 253) were designed in which customers watched a video simulating an interaction with a human or a robot agent during a service recovery procedure.
Findings
Study 1 shows that robot agents handle emotionally driven service recovery interactions and prompt desirable postrecovery behaviors (e.g. brand loyalty). Study 2 identifies customers’ empathy and compassion as mediators, explaining the effect of normative empathic display on customers' perceptions of interactional justice and behavioral intentions.
Practical implications
Robot agents are reliable substitutes for human agents in handling service recovery procedures. Customers can empathize with robot agents, leading to satisfying service experiences.
Originality/value
This study demonstrates customers’ capacity to empathize with robot agents during a service recovery procedure. It is also the first application in service research of the EmpaToM experimental procedure from social neuroscience to explore the social cognition dynamic between customers and service agents at the service encounter.
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Timothy L. Keiningham, Lerzan Aksoy, Tor Wallin Andreassen, Bruce Cooil and Barry J. Wahren
This paper aims to examine call center satisfaction in an escalated call center context where callers are organization members of the primary/leveraged brand and have purchased…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine call center satisfaction in an escalated call center context where callers are organization members of the primary/leveraged brand and have purchased additional co‐branded services as part of their membership. It also aims to examine the relationship between call center satisfaction and actual retention of both the co‐branded service offered and the primary brand (call center operated by the membership organization).
Design/methodology/approach
The survey data used in the analyses involve a sample size of 88 respondents, all members of a large, national nonprofit organization in the USA. Factor analysis and logistic regression were used to test the propositions.
Findings
The results indicate that caller satisfaction has four dimensions similar to those found in SERVQUAL. Although call center satisfaction dimensions are not significant for co‐branded service retention, the empathy dimension is most important to primary/leveraged brand retention.
Research limitations/implications
One of the limitations of this research is that it tests the propositions within a single firm regarding calls concerning a single category (insurance). Future research should attempt to replicate these findings in other call center contexts.
Practical implications
Caller perceptions of service quality (specifically empathy) in the wake of a perceived service failure, while not very helpful to co‐branded service retention, actually mitigate primary/leveraged brand membership loss.
Originality/value
This study addresses the lack of research tying escalated call center satisfaction and both retention of the co‐branded service in addition to retention of the primary leveraged brand using actual retention data.