This research project explores how service experience impacts on business-to-business relationships. It investigates the role of service encounters in a business-to-business context through examining the characteristics of service encounters in business-to-business markets and how service encounters impact on business-to-business relationships. Service failure and recovery in business-to-business markets are also explored. The theoretical background stems from both services marketing and business-to-business marketing. The literature review encompasses investigations of service encounters and service failure and recovery in both consumer and business-to-business markets. The project attempts to merge these areas of knowledge, by extending the domain of service research from consumer markets to business-to-business markets. The researcher notes that different characteristics may exist between consumer and business-to-business markets, and so studies of service issues developed in consumer markets are used as guidance rather than simply being transferred to a business-to-business context. As the nature of this project was exploratory, case studies were selected as a suitable research strategy, and two case studies were carried out. The first case study was in the metal finishing industry in the North of England and included 20 interviews. The second case study was in the paint and coatings industry in the North West of England and included 20 interviews. In both case studies, suppliers' and customers' perspectives were investigated to allow a dyadic understanding of the role of service in supplier-customer relationships. Other data such as direct observation, shop floor visits, company brochures, a research diary and notes were also used. Computer-assisted NVivo software was employed to assist data analysis. A thematic approach was applied to analyse the data. The findings revealed similarities and differences in service encounters, and service failure and recovery, between consumer markets and business-to-business markets. Communication, adaptation, help and people were identified as key factors in business-to-business service encounters, impacting on business-business relationships. The influences of domino effects on business-to-business customers' service experience were found to be significant and illustrate the complexity of the business-to-business service experience. The results suggest that service recovery strategies that are employed in consumer markets may also be effective in business-to-business markets, but because of the active role that business-to-business customers were observed to play, the strategies may need to be extended. This project has both theoretical and managerial contributions. Theoretically, it extends the domain of service experience research from consumer markets to business-to-business markets, by filling in a gap in the services marketing literature by investigating business-to-business service failure and recovery. It contributes to the business-to-business marketing literature by discussing the role of service explicitly in interactions and, thus, extends the understanding of supplier-customer relationship processes. Managerially, the research provides companies with an additional approach to managing their business-to-business relationships through improving service performance and explicitly considering service recovery processes.

Published Article / This paper reports on further attempts to develop and validate instruments to improve the measurement of higher education quality, more especially postgraduate research service. A 26-item postgraduate research service quality (PGSQUAL) instrument as well as a six-item postgraduate service experience (PGSERVEXP) instrument were developed and validated among recent postgraduates at a large research university in South Africa. From a response rate of almost 53%, after subjecting the data to factor analysis and, determining the Cronbach's alpha values, it was ascertained that the respective research instruments were found to be fairly reliable and valid measures of postgraduate research service quality and of the overall postgraduate research service experience.

The aim of this thesis is to bring understanding of what constitutes improvisation in the service encounter. The study adopts a qualitative approach using hidden observations to categorize different types of improvisation in the service encounter. The improvisation themes discovered within the service encounter were experience, impulsiveness, theatrical, personality and emotionality. All of these are factors that influence improvisation. This study offers original contributions by explaining the fundamentals of improvisation in the service encounter. These fundamentals establish a framework and gives a clearer definition of what the concept improvisation implies.

This work focuses on how to improve medical services for veterans in a manner that will result in high levels of satisfaction and attainment of needed services. This research assess how veterans access healthcare and receive service. The problem to be addressed relates to reports by veteran healthcare organizations regarding the presence of gaps in coverage and customer service disparities in healthcare. Common concerns involve the gaps between veterans’ expectations for services and the provided services. This study created a survey instrument that contextualized components of established scales along with demographics and constructs specific to the current study. This study assessed the relationships among a variety of constructs and dimensions with healthcare expectations and service quality using a series of simple regressions. The results showed a statistically significant relationship between quality and the use or intention to use technology. The study supports the contention that respondents are willing to use self-service technologies. Technology that incorporates digital devices into healthcare services offers an opportunity to bridge service gaps and holds a promise for giving veterans faster access to service and care in a beneficial manner.

Detta examensarbete undersöker hur materiella och immateriella ledtrådar används vid förmedling av ett tjänstevarumärke i en internationell franchisekontext. Begreppet experience room (Edvardsson, Enquist och Johnston, 2005) tillämpas för att undersöka konceptet ICEBAR BY ICEHOTEL i egenskap av testkörning (prepurchase service experience) av ICEHOTELs erbjudande, samt hur franchisegivaren hanterar de särskilda förhållanden som uppstår vid förmedling av tjänster via franchisetagare i egenskap av varumärkesambassadörer. Hur går det till när en upplevelse, lika flyktig och förgänglig som isen på Torne älv, görs materiell och flyttbar i form av ett franchisekoncept? Och vad händer med ett tjänstevarumärke när det förmedlas av en franchisetagare på andra sidan jordklotet? Studien konstaterar att franchisekonceptet ICEBAR BY ICEHOTEL uppfyller designdimensionerna för ett experience room; fysiska och immateriella artefakter, teknologi, kundplacering, kunddeltagande och interaktion med de anställda förekommer alla i någon utsträckning. Dock är den otydliga kopplingen till ICEHOTEL – en konsekvens av det tidigare namnet Absolut Icebar – avgörande för att konceptet inte kan anses utgöra en PSE (prepurchase service experience). I det studerade fallet sammanfattas det interna varumärkesarbetet i fem kategorier; dokument, materiella ledtrådar, personer och aktiviteter med anknytning till ICEHOTEL samt storytelling vilken bidrar till att skapa mening och en personlig koppling till varumärket. Det framgår av studien att kopplingen till Jukkasjärvi och upplevelsen av ishotellet är avgörande för att franchisetagarens representanter ska ”leva varumärket”.  Detta medför också att den frekventa kontakten mellan franchisetagarens kontaktpersoner och franchisegivaren skapar bättre förutsättningar för buy-in av varumärkeskonceptet hos kontaktpersonerna jämfört med den juridiska franchisetagaren. Studien visar också att franchisegivarens organisationskultur präglas av en stark entreprenörsanda vilken bidragit till att varumärkeskonceptet inte bedrivits som en traditionell franchise. Härigenom får franchisetagarnas egna organisationer ett stort genomslag i exempelvis rekryteringsfrågor vilket i sin tur får effekter på den förmedlade varumärkesbilden. För att den särskiljande varumärkesbilden som förmedlas genom franchisetagarna ska motsvara den som franchisegivaren avser, behövs en förståelse för varumärket i samtliga led i organisationen samt gemensamma värdeord till stöd för exempelvis rekrytering på lokalt plan. Det framgår av studien att franchisetagarnas representanter tar ett större ägandeskap över varumärkets värderingar i de fall materiella och immateriella ledtrådar kombineras och förmedlas på ett involverande sätt. Att förmedla ett tjänstevarumärke i en internationell franchisekontext innebär en balansgång mellan franchisegivarens och den lokala franchisetagarens organisationskulturer – och preferenserna hos respektive marknad kontra varumärkets kärnvärden. Det studerade fallet illustrerar ett dilemma som uppstår när ett förgängligt erbjudande förmedlas genom franchise; hur mycket konstnärlig och entreprenöriell frihet ryms egentligen i ett kopierbart koncept? Studien ger också ett bidrag till diskussionen kring skillnader mellan tjänster och upplevelser genom att använda begreppet experience brand för att beskriva det studerade varumärket.

Šiuo tyrimu buvo siekiama ištirti ir patvirtinti arba paneigti sąsają tarp teatrinių metodų taikymo apmokant svetingumo paslaugų darbuotojus, bei savybių, įtakojančių svetingumo paslaugos patyrimą klientui, tobulėjimo. Išanalizavus mokslinę literatūrą, bei ekspertų apklausos ir linijinio eksperimento metu, tyrimo hipotezės pasitvirtino: paslaugų teatro modelis yra lengvai suvokiamas ir priimtinas bei gali būti naudojamas kaip įrankis paslaugos patyrimui gerinti; teatriniai mokymai gali pagerinti aukščiau minėtas, šiame darbe konkrečiai įvardytas, savybes. Labiausiai naudinga ir praktiškai pritaikoma teatrinė priemonė - „Improvizavimo rato“ modelis - priimti-papildyti-pasiūlyti principas. Kaip problemos sprendinį, autorė pateikia svetingumo paslaugų darbuotojų vaidmens tobulinimo teatriniais metodais modelį. Šio tyrimo rezultatai pristatyti šešiose mokslinėse konferencijose. / The purpose of the research was to investigate and at the same time confirm or deny the existance of the link between the theater training for the hospitality services employees and the improvement of their skills, influencing the hospitality service experience for the customer. The analysis of the research literature, the expert interviews and the preliminary experiment confirms the hypothesis of this research: the service theater model is naturally acceptable and could be used as a tool for the service experience improvement; theater training can improve the skills named above and specified in this master thesis. It appears, that the most useful and practicaly adaptable theater tool – the „Improvisation circle model“ – the accept-add-suggest principles. As the research problem solution the hospitality services employee role improvement by applying theater techniques model is provided. The research results were presented in six science conferences.

With the increasing number of people studying online, self-aid learning platforms which help customers（users）study by themselves are more and more prevalent in China. Self-aid online learning is a relatively innovative field which has not been widely and thoroughly researched. This paper used Shanbay which is one of the largest self-aid English learning platforms in China as an example to investigate what and how factors influence customer satisfaction leading to their (re)purchase intention. Based on the previous models and empirical studies of some related fields, this paper outlined a new framework and generated eight propositions to explore these two research questions. Both free users and premium users of Shanbay were interviewed to gather the research material, and the data got from the interview were analyzed to develop the propositions. This paper found that positive service experience can facilitate customer satisfaction from their perceived utilitarian value and hedonic value. Among the proposed five factors influencing the two values, perceived usefulness was considered as the most important factor while perceived playfulness was the least one. What’ more, the relationship between customer satisfaction and (re)purchase intention was suggested to be positive in this paper.

<p>This study explored the role of idiosyncratic service experience by redefining the wow experience in the context of boutique hotels. Despite the expansion of the boutique hotel segment, which seeks to provide a unique and singular experience, in the lodging industry and the growing popularity of pursuing novel experiences among Millennial consumers, the role of idiosyncratic experience in consumer behavior has not been explored. This left the potential antecedents and consequents of idiosyncratic hotel stay experience—and its role in consumer’s decision-making process—unknown. In this study, a consumer’s perception of a hotel stay experience, which is unusual in an interesting and surprising way, is coined as the perceived quirky experience (PQE). Utilizing the Mehrabian-Russel model, the relationship among boutique hotel service quality aspects, motives and barriers, PQE, and behavior intentions were examined. The consumer decision-making process is expected to be influenced by the optimal stimulation level (OSL); thus, the group differences between stimulation avoiders and seekers were also explored. </p> <p>Methodologically, the current study also seeks to provide a novel approach to amalgamate qualitative and quantitative data. By integrating qualitative analysis of 175,407 TripAdvisor reviews and quantitative analysis of field data (n = 498), topic modeling using an unsupervised machine learning process was performed. Identified keywords were used for aspect-based sentiment analysis and to construct measurement items for the quantitative study stage. Statistical tests were performed using logistic regression and path analysis—and multi-group analysis. The results of this study suggested that boutique hotel-specific service quality aspects have a stronger effect on PQE, and this internal state leads to strong behavioral intentions regardless of temporal differences. The consumer’s stimulation-seeking tendency influenced multiple paths in the consumer’s decision-making process. </p> <p>This study is the first to explore the role of idiosyncratic service experience in the boutique hotel setting and makes theoretical contributions to understanding consumer behaviors involving the perception of uncommon and interesting experiences. The findings of this study provide practical contributions to boutique hotel developers regarding the relative importance of service quality aspects to create a unique and singular stay experience and also provide hotel and brand managers with insightful marketing implications.</p>

Waiting for service is inevitable. Service cannot be easily supplied to match fluctuating peaks of demand, and its pre-production is limited. Unfortunately, however, most people do not tolerate waiting well. To effectively deal with the inevitable waiting, service organizations endeavor to manage customer perceptions of the wait using various strategies to make waiting seem short and less wasteful and uncomfortable. Therefore, finding ways to manage customer perceptions of waiting is an essential part of the service experience. To encourage customers to join in and help them remain being patient, service operations provide estimated waiting time. Information on the estimated wait time affects customer expectations and responses, which may further lead to undesirable customer behaviors such as balking (i.e., refusal to wait in line) and reneging (i.e., give up to get the service and leave away from the line). That is, customers’ understanding of quantitative meanings often deviates from the objective value even when the estimated waiting time is well delivered. Therefore, how service providers structure and deliver quantitative information causes customers to differ in their estimation of the time to be waitlisted as well as the expectation of service promptness, and eventually determine their behaviors. Existing research, however, has overlooked how customer experience of waiting is altered by the wait time is communicated as part of strategies for managing waiting for services. While waiting, people will have quantitative information for the duration in both numbers and units. Thus, granularity and its effect on customers’ affective and cognitive responses as well as their waiting behaviors (i.e., joining in, keep staying on, or leaving away from the line) require further investigation in that numbers and units are inseparable and change simultaneously. The purpose of this study was to explore how information, through various psychological mechanisms both cognitive and affective responses, affects waiting behavior. This dissertation consisted of three studies. Study 1 was conducted to investigate how information on delays have a granularity effect on customer perceptions of time estimation for being waitlisted in numerical cognition, particularly depending on its format. Study 2 further explored the effect of information on waiting with communicator’s cooperativeness on balking behavior, and that are incorporated into expectation of the service promptness and anxiety as a part of cognitive and affective responses. Finally, Study 3 examined the effect of information on time delays on reneging behavior with customer mind-sets with matching of cognitive salience of unit (verse number), especially when delays are imposed by the wait staff, and that are incorporated into understanding psychological mechanisms (information processing fluency and anxiety). Study 1 found that providing waiting information in a coarse-grained unit with an interval is not ideal for customers assured to join a queue because they less expected the time on being waitlisted far less shortly. In general, less balking occurs if information is delivered as a single value (than an interval), even the information is delivered in a coarse-grained unit. Therefore, for an in-depth understanding of the granularity effect of information on waiting to be seated, Study 2 was narrowed to use only a single value. Study 2 showed that when information is delivered in a coarse-grained unit with a point estimate by a professionally trained employee, balking is far less common than if the same information is delivered by an unprofessional employee because the professional employee elicits a higher level of expectation of service promptness. With emphasizing the role of the employees, how employees deliver the information in point estimate professionally encourages customers to less balking or more joining a queue even if the information is delivered in a coarse-grained unit (i.e., hours). Finally, Study 3 revealed that more reneging occurred when additional wait time was communicated in a coarse-grained interval than when the wait time was delivered in a fine-grained interval. Furthermore, when the additional wait time was communicated using a coarse-grained (rather than a fine-grained) interval to customers with an abstract mind-set, they felt more anxious and subsequently were more likely to renege. During sequential delays, therefore, information on waiting could be framed at a concrete level (how-laden) to reduce anxiety and further to keep customers stay in line. The insight gained from the three studies is discussed, and theoretical and practical implications presented in conclusion. / Tourism and Sport

In the era of experience economy, how best to deliver memorable and exciting customer experiences has become a key issue for service providers. This research aims to build a systematical, quantitative and expectation-based mechanism to design and manage service experience and operation for cyber-physical services. Consequently, this study not only analyzes and synthesizes the critical factors by reviewing literatures (that is, customer expectation, service operation and customer emotion) within the background of service science but also establishes a conceptual theoretical framework for designing satisfactory service experiences. Furthermore, this study presents a concept of the Exquisite Technology and a service system (i.e. U2EX) with a customer expectation management engine (including five core methods, Hawk-Dove game, Coopetition, PSO, FCM and expectation measurement model) in the exhibition context to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing the notions of customer expectation management and service experience design. Besides, we integrate the expectation theory with the emotion theory to build a theoretical concept and employ a multimethod (including a single case study, interviews, simulations and questionnaire surveys) to test the relations and research propositions of the theoretical concept. The research results show positive evidences to support our developed theoretical concept. The customer expectation measurement model is one critical element of the proposed engine that can help service providers understand and quantify customer expectation in dynamic and real time environments for appropriate service experiences based on the systematical and theoretical groundings (i.e. Fechner’s law and operation risk). Hence, we use the simulations to verify the reliability of the customer expectation measurement model. Meanwhile, this research also conducts simulation experiments of Hawk-Dove game, PSO, FCM and Coopetition methods to have preliminary evidences for supporting the proposed mechanism. Thus, service providers provide customers with high-quality service experiences to achieve customer satisfaction and co-create values with customers through meticulous service experiences design approaches. The proposed mechanism of expectation-based service experience and operation design and management has been demonstrated in the exhibition service sector. We would like to apply the advantage and usage of the proposed mechanism to the other feasible domains and service sectors. Consequently, this study proposes a S-D based input-output analysis approach in order to find the potential fields that can also adopt the proposed mechanism by measuring the effects of technology spillovers.