Executive summary of "Reexamining the place of servicescape in marketing: a service-dominant logic perspective

Citation

(2014), "Executive summary of "Reexamining the place of servicescape in marketing: a service-dominant logic perspective", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-06-2014-0219

Executive summary of "Reexamining the place of servicescape in marketing: a service-dominant logic perspective"

Article Type: Executive summary and implications for managers and executives From: Journal of Services Marketing, Volume 28, Issue 5

This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives a rapid appreciation of the content of the article. Those with a particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the research undertaken and its results to get the full benefit of the material present.

Las Vegas-based online sales company Zappos consistently ranks as one of the best places to work in the USA. So what makes its employees so happy? Chief executive officer Tony Hsieh says that happiness depends on four things: perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness (meaning the number and depth of your relationships) and being part of something bigger than yourself. Apply this to business and what you have is a company where culture is a priority – where positive relationships and the ability to make decisions are presented to each and every hire.

Wegmans, the New York-based grocery store chain, is also listed as one of the best places to work in the USA, its media relations manager explaining: "We empower our people to make decisions that improve their work and benefit our customers and our company". Pre-shift meetings are held to discuss any issues that arose the previous day or to stress the customer goals for that day.

Service firms need to embrace the power of database marketing. A classic example of this is Ritz Carlton which has been described as America’s best company for employee training. Ritz Carlton collects information at all touch points and uses it to meet or exceed customer expectations. For example, by inputting customer preferences, the hotel chain can stock preferred beverages, food and even scented candles.

It is no surprise to find that some of the companies considered by their employees as "best place to work" also have the highest customer satisfaction scores. A key goal for the modern firm is to try and figure out ways to delight the customer while simultaneously harnessing the benefits of customer delight within their employees. Firms need to put into place policies and procedures to maximize quality interactions between customers and frontline employees. They must also educate their frontline employees to correctly assess customer expectations to ensure customer delight. This can be accomplished in a number of ways: first, training represents a pivotal component of delivering customer delight. Employees need to understand intimate information about the company’s offering. Second, employees need to be empowered – note Wegmans’ decision to give employees flexibility and authority when dealing with customers.

It is more commonly understood that customers get a good feeling from good service delivered in a friendly, effective and knowledgeable way. Less understood perhaps is the reverse – that frontline employees who delighted their customers experience improved customer orientation and job skills.

Firms spend a tremendous amount of money measuring, creating and sustaining employee attitudes such as work engagement (defined as a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind), the expectation being that engaged employees can create satisfied and even delighted customers. But what of the reverse – the effect on employees of satisfied and delighted customers? In "Customer delight and work engagement", Dr Barnes et al. ask if employee perceptions of customer delight can predict more than simple positive effect. Specifically, can they lead to work engagement? Second, what, if any, variable(s) impact the emotional contagion link from the customer to the employee. For example, it seems likely that the level of role conflict that frontline employees experience impacts the amount of contagion that occurs. Third, does the level of contact that occurs between the customer and the employee impact how emotions are transferred in a delightful service encounter?

The idea that role conflict will have an adverse impact on frontline employees is not new. Historically, service firms attempted to reduce role conflict in one of two ways – first, by putting into place hiring practices where employees with certain dispositions, such as higher levels of resistance to stress, were hired. The second and perhaps more realistic option for the firm is to manage role conflict. Traditional methods of achieving this include allowing employees some measure of control over policy and schedule, increasing empowerment, incorporating technology to shift customer demand, etc.

The current research offers another option that firms can utilize to manage customer service-based role conflict – exposing frontline employees to customers experiencing elevated emotional states. In doing so, the firm not only decreases customer service-based role conflict but also increases work engagement. As an example of how this could be accomplished, a service firm could provide opportunities for employees to interact with delighted customers. Walt Disney World instructs frontline employees to wish park visitors a happy birthday when they see a customer wearing an identifying button. This simple gesture provides an opportunity for the employee to engage with a most likely delighted customer.

The study found that, because customers in a high contact setting are "closer" to the employee, it is likely that their delighted emotions have a stronger feedback to the frontline employee. Retail stores, fast food and grocery stores are generally regarded as low contact, compared with firms providing more individually customized services such as restaurants, financial consulting and medical services.

To read the full article enter 10.1108/JSM-02-2013-0051 into your search engine.

(A précis of the article "Customer delight and work engagement". Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)