Determinants of Successful Service Encounters

Introduction

The term “service encounter” is defined as the period of productive interaction between a customer and the staff of a service provider” (Surprenant & Solomon, 1987; Shostack, 1986). According to Gutek (1995), the interaction between customers and service provider’s employees are structured by either an “encounter” or a “relationship” aspect. For example: if a customer engages in repeat contact with a specific service employee, the interaction establishes in a “relationship” norm. On the other hand, if the interaction occurs with any representative of the service organization with non-specific customers or employees, the resulting interaction is based on “encounter” form. Several researchers have indicated the need to consider customers as a resource in the value co-creation process (Vargo & Lusch, 2004); i.e. the bottom of the pyramid (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2000). Research has indicated the shifting role of the customer as a passive recipient to a co-creator (Bettencourt, 1997; Lengnick-Hall, Claycomb, & Inks, 2000).

While benefits (economic, relational or psychological) can be achieved through customer participation, it largely is due to service employees or the customer (Chan et al., 2010; Yim et al., 2012). Participation can help to improve productivity or effectiveness (i.e. divisional level) (Bagozzi et al., 2012; Bendapudi and Leone, 2003; Xie et al., 2008). There is considerable research focusing on the consequences of customer participation (Greer, 2015; Yim et al., 2012). There is however a limit on research on the role on the behavior of front-line employees to customer participation (Hartline et al., 2000). As customers’ perceptions can have severe outcomes for service outcomes (Bitner, 1990), service encounter among front-line employees are considered important by many scholars (Keh et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2016).

Hence service encounter is a critical perimeter which is functioning every moment the customer has contact with the feature of service provider’s offering (Hsu, 2018; Sony, Mekoth, & Therisa, 2018). As the term service encounter has been mentioned by the researchers in various form of aspect such as multifaceted, chronological by nature, made up of a structure of events, a chain of touch points that combine to form a “customer passage” (Houston, Grandey, & Sawyer, 2018; Czepiel, Solomon, Surprenant, & Gutman, 1986; Fisk, Grove, & John 2004, Shostack, 1984, 1986; Verhoef, Antonides, & de Hoog 2004; Hogan, Almquist, & Glynn 2005; Meyer & Schwager, 2007; Grove & Fisk, 1983). In order to achieve a satisfactory service encounter outcome, service providers need to create a blueprint of customer’s touch points or theatrically design their service offering (Grove & Fisk, 1983; Meuter, Ostrom, Bitner & Roundtree, 2003; Liao & Chuang, 2004; Meuter, Ostrom, Roundtree & Bitner, 2000). However, past research being revealed that organization tends to lose about 50% of their customers within five years (Ruekert, 1992; Heskett, Jones, Loveman, Sasser & Schlesinger, 1994; Collins & Porras, 1996).