When the Going Gets Tough- Should Customer Service Get Going?

One of the dilemmas facing firms today in this day and age of technology is to what extent they should automate the services that have traditionally been provided by humans. While it has been documented that employing self-service technology (SST) results in considerable cost savings, few studies have examined its impact on the resulting consumers’ behavior. This study first compares the consumers’ satisfaction with the services provided, their attitude and commitment towards the firm when the interaction with the firm is direct (visit) and when it is via technology (Internet or automated phone). Our findings show that consumers are more satisfied with the service, find the firm relatively more attractive and have a higher commitment to it when they receive the service by visiting the company. We then explored how the perception of the ‘moment of truth’ is related with the satisfaction, relative attractiveness of the firm and commitment of people who opt to visit the service provider instead of using SST. Results indicate that a perception of higher level of customer service provided by the service personnel results in higher level of satisfaction, relative attractiveness of the firm and commitment.

Citation:

Sangeeta Singh, Line Olsen, and Tor Wallin Andreassen (2006) ,"When the Going Gets Tough- Should Customer Service Get Going?", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 7, eds. Margaret Craig Lees, Teresa Davis, and Gary Gregory, Sydney, Australia : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: .