Customer orientation of service employees

TLDR

Customer orientation of service personnel is considered a main determinant of service firms' success because personnel performance often constitutes a major element of the service itself. The study develops a deductively derived four‑dimensional model of customer orientation—technical skills, social skills, motivation, and decision‑making power—to examine its impact on key service marketing constructs. The model was empirically tested with 989 consumers across book/CD/DVD retailers and travel agencies. The empirical results supported most hypotheses, demonstrating that higher levels of the four customer‑orientation dimensions positively influence service marketing outcomes, and the study discusses implications for services and retail management.

Abstract

With the performance of service personnel often constituting a major element of a service per se , the customer orientation of service personnel is often regarded as a main determinant of service firms' success. Drawing on a deductively derived four‐dimensional conceptualization of the customer orientation of service personnel, consisting of employees' technical skills, social skills, motivation, and decision‐making power, a model of the impact employees' customer orientation has on key service marketing constructs is theoretically developed. The model is then empirically tested against a sample of 989 consumers for two service contexts (i.e. book/CD/DVD retailers and travel agencies), with the results providing support for most hypotheses. Implications of the findings for services and retail management are discussed.