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Article
Publication date: 27 April 2010

Wen‐Hsien Huang

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the organizational recovery response to other‐customer failure influences the affected customer's level of satisfaction, unfavorable…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the organizational recovery response to other‐customer failure influences the affected customer's level of satisfaction, unfavorable word‐of‐mouth (WOM), and repurchase intentions toward the firm.

Design/methodology/approach

Two experimental studies: 2 (complaint versus no complaint)×3 (employee effort (EE): high versus low versus no)×2 (compensation versus no compensation) were used to test the research hypotheses in a restaurant context.

Findings

In cases of other‐customer failure, the outcome valence (failure discontinues versus continues) influences how complainants and non‐complainants rate their perceptions of satisfaction and subsequent behavioral intentions toward the firm. Customers who perceive that there has been good EE made to help solve the problem of other‐customer failure give higher service evaluations than those who perceive little or no EE. Additionally, there are insignificant differences in the rating of satisfaction, repurchase intention, or negative WOM from customers in the latter group. Offering compensation is not a cure‐all. It has the strongest effect on non‐complainants in the low EE scenario.

Practical implications

Service managers need to design well‐balanced organizational recovery systems in terms of the outcome of recovery (i.e. compensation) and the way in which the recovery process is delivered (i.e. EE) to the affected customers in response to other‐customer failures. Since the influence of compensation on service evaluations is largely dependent on customer perceptions of employee‐effort, providing employees with the appropriate problem‐solving skills for working with both problem‐causing customers and the problem‐affected customers is a key issue for service marketers in cases of other‐customer failure.

Originality/value

The paper examines the importance of the as yet under‐researched issue of how organizational recovery responses to other‐customer failure influence a customer's service evaluations of the firm.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

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Article
Publication date: 8 August 2008

Wen‐Hsien Huang

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why other‐customer misbehavior has a negative influence on customer satisfaction with the service firm.

7835

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why other‐customer misbehavior has a negative influence on customer satisfaction with the service firm.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this study were gathered by retrospective experience sampling.

Findings

There are several important findings that can be obtained from the results. First, people consider another customer's failure to be the firm's responsibility when they perceive that the failure is under the firm's volitional control (i.e. controllability attribution). This controllability attribution leads to customer expectations of compensation for recovery from dissatisfaction. Second, stability attributions about other‐customer failures were not found to be significantly related to the firm's responsibility. Third, the severity of the other‐customer failure experience bears no relation to the customer's service recovery expectation, but it is negatively related to satisfaction. Finally, the customer's evaluation of service is not only affected by the other‐customer misbehavior, but also by how employees react to situations when other customers are unruly or potentially disruptive.

Practical implications

Providing employees with the appropriate coping and problem‐solving skills for working with problem customers is a key issue for service providers. More importantly, employees should be trained to help the affected customers, to alleviate any bad feelings caused by the other‐customer's misbehavior.

Originality/value

The paper suggests that employees in a service‐providing firm may need to act as “police officers” to ensure that all their customers behave appropriately.

Details

International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-4233

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Article
Publication date: 26 April 2011

Wen‐Hsien Huang and Tzu‐Da Lin

The purpose of this paper is to gain some insight into the effectiveness of different types of tangible compensation strategies for two different types of services: utilitarian…

4138

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to gain some insight into the effectiveness of different types of tangible compensation strategies for two different types of services: utilitarian and hedonic.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses are investigated using a 2×2 between‐subject experimental design and two factors: service type (utilitarian vs hedonic) and compensation type (utilitarian – a price reduction vs hedonic – a free gift).

Findings

The results show that customers prefer to receive a form of compensation that matches the type of service involved. For example, customers who receive a utilitarian compensation (e.g. a price reduction) after experiencing a failure in utilitarian service (e.g. at a bank) report higher levels of satisfaction and repurchase intention than they would after experiencing a failure in hedonic services (e.g. at a restaurant), but that the reverse is true for a hedonic‐type compensation (e.g. a free gift).

Practical implications

The offering of either a price reduction or a free gift cuts into company profits. Organizations should, therefore, tailor their service recovery efforts, focusing on those resources in the bundle that will have the greatest positive impact and create the most favorable customer response.

Originality/value

The primary contribution of this paper to the service marketing literature is that it provides empirical results, which shed light on the interplay between the type of compensation and the type of service on the customer's post‐recovery judgment of that service.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

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Article
Publication date: 13 July 2015

Wen-Hsien Huang and Chun-Ming Yang

This paper aims to examine how consumers evaluate and respond after failing to receive the promotional price for a quantity discount because the minimum purchase requirement…

2065

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how consumers evaluate and respond after failing to receive the promotional price for a quantity discount because the minimum purchase requirement (MinPR) is out of reach. Although quantity discounts are effective in terms of increasing sales volume, the outcome of using them is not always positive.

Design/methodology/approach

Two 2 × 2 experiments are carried out to test the research hypotheses in the context of apparel shopping.

Findings

The results of Experiment 1 demonstrate that offering quantity discounts with a high MinPR (e.g. “4 for 30 per cent off”) can result in greater willingness to buy (WTB) a single product at the full price than offering promotions with a low MinPR (e.g. “2 for 30 per cent off”) in the wake of a missed quantity discount. In other words, the purchase quantity has a positive effect on the consumers’ WTB even when they are not able to take advantage of the discount. However, this relationship weakens when the selection of discounted items is limited (i.e. the scope of the promotion is narrow). The results of Experiment 2 reveal that when the missed quantity discount is based on dollars rather than on the number of pieces (e.g. “Buy $100, get 30 per cent off” vs “Buy four pieces, get 30 per cent off”), the effect of purchase quantity on WTB is enhanced. Finally, perceived closeness of purchase outcome to the MinPR mediates the effect of purchase quantity on WTB.

Research limitations/implications

To maximize internal validity, hypothetical scenarios were used as stimuli rather than an actual consumption experience, and the setting involved only a single product category (clothing). Future work including other types of merchandise and a more natural setting is needed to generalize our findings.

Practical implications

The purchase quantity or MinPR serves as a reference point that influences consumers’ purchase decisions, even those who do not buy enough to qualify for the price reduction. Our findings suggest that retailers should specify a relatively high MinPR for quantity discounts. In addition, proper selection of the promotional scope and discount base will significantly improve consumers’ behavioral reactions when they are not able to take advantage of a quantity discount.

Originality/value

The primary contribution of this article to the marketing literature is that it provides empirical results that shed some light on the situational influences that missing a quantity discount has on the consumer’s WTB a single product at the regular price, and what the mechanisms for the purchase quantity effect might be.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 49 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

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Article
Publication date: 16 July 2020

Hsien-Cheng Lin, Xiao Han, Tu Lyu, Wen-Hsien Ho, Yunbao Xu, Tien-Chih Hsieh, Lihua Zhu and Liang Zhang

Research in tourism and hospitality industry marketing has identified many highly effective applications of social media. However, studies in the existing literature do not enable…

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Abstract

Purpose

Research in tourism and hospitality industry marketing has identified many highly effective applications of social media. However, studies in the existing literature do not enable a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon because they lack a theoretical foundation. Therefore, this study systematically reviewed the literature from the perspective of the task-technology fit (TTF) theory. The purpose of this paper is to map out what is known about social media use in tourism and hospitality marketing and what areas need further exploration.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive cumulative review of the literature obtained 99 articles published in tourism and hospitality journals from 2010 to 2019.

Findings

The analysis suggests that to understand social media use in tourism marketing, researchers and practitioners in the industry must clarify the following four issues: the control variables, longitudinal analyzes and TTF concepts that should be used in future studies; the fitness of social media platforms for tourism marketing; how various social media platforms differ in terms of performance outcome; and the digital divide in the use of social media for tourism.

Originality/value

An integrated framework was developed to identify constructs and to understand their relationships. Recent studies in this domain are discussed; theoretical and practical suggestions and implications for future research are given.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 32 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1997

Wen‐Hsien Chen

Total quality management (TQM) is widely recognized as an effective approach to enhance a firm’s competitive advantage. In addition to technical elements such as statistical…

9066

Abstract

Total quality management (TQM) is widely recognized as an effective approach to enhance a firm’s competitive advantage. In addition to technical elements such as statistical process control, product design, etc. the successful implementation of TQM requires senior executive leadership and effective human resources management. Examines the leadership and human resources management of TQM in Taiwan. Data were collected from field interviews and questionnaire surveys conducted in US and Japanese subsidiaries, and local firms. Criteria stipulated in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award of the USA were used to assess the quality of leadership and human resources management. Results of MANOVA (Multivariate analysis of variants) reveal that a company with larger sales revenue, a larger number of employees, or with greater production automation manifests better leadership and human resources management. The chi‐square test shows that foreign‐invested companies are superior to local firms in leadership. Canonical correlation analysis concludes that both leadership and human resources management are positively correlated with the management effectiveness of the quality department. Discusses the managerial implications of these research findings.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

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Article
Publication date: 17 July 2018

Wen-Hsien Kao, Yean-Liang Su, Jeng-Haur Horng and Shu-Er Yang

This paper aims to investigate the tribology, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of high-temperature gas-nitrided Ti6Al4V alloy.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the tribology, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of high-temperature gas-nitrided Ti6Al4V alloy.

Design/methodology/approach

The tribological properties were studied by reciprocating wear tester. The corrosion resistance was evaluated by using potentiodynamic polarization test. The purified mouse leukaemic monocyte macrophage cells are used to investigate the biocompatibility.

Findings

The results show that the nitriding treatment leads to a significant improvement in the hardness and tribological properties of Ti6Al4V alloy. Specifically, compared to untreated Ti6Al4V, the hardness increases from 3.24 to 9.02 GPa, while the wear rate reduces by 12.5 times in sliding against a Ti6Al4V cylinder and 19.6 times in sliding against a Si3N4 ball. Furthermore, the nitriding treatment yields an improved corrosion resistance and a biocompatibility similar to that of untreated Ti6Al4V.

Originality/value

The nitrided Ti6Al4V alloy is an ideal material for the fabrication of load-bearing artificial implants.

Details

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, vol. 70 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0036-8792

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Article
Publication date: 2 July 2018

Wen-Hsien Kao and Yean-Liang Su

This paper aims to investigate the effects of plasma nitriding and Ti-C:H coating deposition on AISI 316L and to find the best tribological performance of various specimens.

153

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effects of plasma nitriding and Ti-C:H coating deposition on AISI 316L and to find the best tribological performance of various specimens.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental investigation is performed into the effects of plasma nitriding and Ti-C:H sputtering on the tribological properties of AISI 316L biomedical stainless steel. Five samples are prepared, namely, original AISI 316L stainless steel (code: 316L), nitrided 316L (code: N316), 316L and N316 sputtered with Ti-C:H (codes: D316 and DN316, respectively) and polished N316 sputtered with Ti-C:H (DN316s). The microstructure, mechanical properties and coating adhesion strength of the various samples are investigated and compared. The tribological properties of the samples are then evaluated by means of reciprocating wear tests performed in 8.9 Wt.% NaCl solution against three different counterbodies, namely, a 316L ball, Ti6Al4V ball and Si3N4 ball.

Findings

It is shown that plasma nitriding followed by Ti-C:H deposition (DN316s) improves the tribological properties of AISI 316L; the sample provides the best tribological performance of the various specimens and has a wear rate approximately 156 times lower than that of the original 316L substrate.

Originality/value

The results suggest that nitriding followed by polishing and Ti-C:H sputtering provides an effective means of improving the service life of AISI 316L biomedical implants.

Details

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, vol. 70 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0036-8792

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