Virtual Reality (VR) is no longer only a buzzword, but pronounced to be the next revolutionary platform after PCs and smartphones (Bellini et al., 2016). Up to this point research on VR has been primarily focusing on virtual product experiences (e.g.Klein, 2003; Li, Daugherty, & Biocca, 2002) or brand experiences (e.g.Van Kerrebroeck, Brengman, & Willems, 2017), whereas no research using a VR in conjunction with service concepts or provider-consumer relationships could be found. However, with service characteristics such as intangibility and a high uncertainty in purchase decisions the new technology could prove very useful in supporting customers in their purchase decisions (Lovelock & Wirtz, 2011). VR is able to simulate the consumption more similar and closer to a direct experience than other media and is hence be able to support the customer in his decision decision. Furthermore, and induced by the feeling of telepresence or spatial presence customers are transported to the virtually created service environment and hence enabled to familiarize with the service and connect with the service provider prior to the actual consumption (Balasubramanian, Konana, & Menon, 2003). The theoretical foundation lies with the Construal Level Theory (CLT) and the concept of psychological distance. As Trope and Liberman (2010) induce, objects that are closer to one’s direct experience (low psychological distance) are mentally construed on a lower (more concrete) level and thus perceived with a lower psychological distance or in other words close from the self, here, and now (Liberman & Trope, 1998; Trope & Liberman, 2010). The study at hand shows a direct positive relationship between the level of telepresence and the participants’ construal level, enabling service providers to reduce the level of psychological distance to their consumers with the help of VR. Further, the positive relationship between construal level and participants’ level of trust, risk and perceived firm knowledge could be proven as significant with the data at hand. This is both supporting and extending the existing literature (Darke, Brady, Benedicktus, & Wilson, 2016; Edwards, Lee, & Ferle, 2009). The results contribute to an increasing interest of the potential of construal level theory application in a service environment and offer great potential for service practitioners to reduce psychological distance to their customers and in the following increase trust and reduce risk, both being very central challenges when it comes to the purchase decision for services.

The relationship of parasocial Interaction is one of the important contents of marketing research in recent years. With the rise of internet economy in the world, more and more enterprises' marketing practices are involved in the marketing process of SNS based on social networks. The interaction between medium and audiences has broken through the non-face-to-face one-way communication mode and forms a twoway communication mode of the relationship of parasocial Interaction in the SNS environment. Based on the signaling theory and the social exchange theory, this dissertation clarifies the driving factors and mechanism between Fashion web celebrity and attributes and relationship of parasocial interaction through the literature review, In the South China, Middle and North China, there were N audiences who used SNS experience as survey target to conduct a survey. And analyzed these data with SEM software. The research found that between Fashion web Fashion web celebrity and attributes and SNS participation motivation show a positive correlation with relationship of parasocial interaction, and there is a positive correlation between relationship of parasocial interaction and identification, relationship of parasocial interaction and identification have positive correlation with customer equity. E-WOM on customer asset-driven process has a clear intermediary role in the relationship of parasocial Interaction. This not only enriches and develops the existing research results of relationship of parasocial Interaction, but also provides guidance for enterprises to manage relationship of parasocial interactions. In addition, it also provides valuable theoretical guidance for enterprises to promote SNS marketing management practices.

This study focuses on the digital generation in China and their engagement in social media to co-create values with firms. The study employed a qualitative research approach to first develop a social media co-creation value scale. This was followed by motivational analysis of social media engagement to co-create values. A spectrum of utilitarian and hedonic motives related to value co-creation behaviors via social media were then identified. Many theoretical and practical implications are provided based on the study findings.

This study discusses how firm-customer interactions impact customer engagement behaviors in the area of hospitality and tourism services. In the current study, two research questions are raised to answer: 1) what values are perceived by customers through firm-customer interactions during various service encounters? 2) how customer engagement behaviors are led by the customer perceived values? To test the proposed model, a quantitative approach is adopted. Amazon Mechanical Turk is used as data collection platform to collect responses with the aid of Qualtrics as questionnaire development tool. To reach the maximum scope of hospitality and tourism services, hotel guests, restaurant patrons, travelers, airline customers, and theme park travelers are included in the sample. This study adopts a quantitative approach to investigate the factors that contribute to the varied customer engagement behaviors (i.e. online ratings, online reviews, online blogging, and customer-to-customer interactions). Successful industry practices demonstrate that customer engagement brings many benefits and opportunities to maintain business sustainability and profitability.

To investigate the value co-creation process in wellness tourism, this study constructed a structural equation model of customer interactions with (1) the environment, (2) service employees, and (3) other customers relating to customer-perceived value and customer engagement. Empirical data were collected from 528 survey respondents who were at wellness tourism resorts. The results reveal that all three types of interaction have positive effects on customer-perceived value, and that perceived value positively affects customer engagement. Based on this finding, management recommendations for wellness tourism service enterprises are given.

Value co-creation has become an emerging venue of the customer engagement research. The purpose of the study is to investigate a model that represents the process (behavior and value) and consequence (satisfaction) of customer co-creation in the restaurant context. Specifically, with the theoretical support of service-dominant logic, the present study explores customer co-creation behavior as a key predictor of co-created value, which in turn leads to customer satisfaction. The results of the study confirm that customer value cocreation is a subtle process by examining the relationship between customer co-creation behavior at the “co-production” stage and co-created value at the “co-creation of value” stage. The findings of the study contribute to the evolving knowledge of customer cocreation of value, and offer practitioners in the hospitality and tourism industry effective marketing strategies based on re-examining customer relationships and engagement, thereby maximizing customer value.

Engaged customers are a crucial asset in many service industries, especially in the tourism and hospitality context (e.g. So, King, Sparks, Wang, & Hall, 2016). Positive effects of customer engagement (CE), such as word-of-mouth, community participation, or provision of new ideas for services are likely to become increasingly important for companies and help them develop unique offerings and generate new revenue streams (e.g. Kumar & Pansari, 2016; Venkatesan, 2017; Verhoef, Reinartz, & Krafft, 2010). Although previous research has repeatedly emphasized the positive effects of CE, the patterns that bring about CE are less clear. This research contributes to the investigation of CE antecedents and draws on data elicited from a series of focus group discussions and interviews with customers, experts and executives in the services, hotel, and tourism industry. The findings from these qualitative studies point to complex patterns of customer and firm based antecedents (e.g. Brodie et al., 2011; van Doorn et al., 2010) that play a role in stimulating CE. Among other results, the findings show that customers exhibit different motives for engaging, such as feelings of familiarity, pride and belonging, helpfulness or emotions and companies need to adjust their approaches to meet these motives. In sum, these findings contribute to the literature on CE by unveiling different antecedents of CE and investigating their interplay. This article also contributes to the services and relationship management literature by investigating which relationship characteristics play a role in CE and how they bring about engagement behaviors.

The service setting is more than ever dynamic. Customers’ engagement is changing due to the multiple interactions at different levels of the consumption experience journey. The customer as an active and engaged value co-creator raises new challenges to theory and practice. However, the connection between engagement and co-creation is scarce in the literature. The experience of the active hotel customer occurs through customer engagement with internal actors and factors from prepurchase through to post-purchase. Since value co-creation results from the engagement of multiple factors and actors (f/actors) in the process, it is essential to understand the actors’ activities that promote or obstruct this process. This paper proposes a connection between customer engagement (CE) and value co-creation framework to ascertain and depict the internal actors’ activities and factors that foster or hinder customers’ experience in the hotel industry. The researchers used qualitative methods (35 in-depth interviews, document analysis and 4 observation sessions) in seven regions in Ghana to explore the customer’s perspective. Data was analysed with Nvivo11, within a thematic analysis framework. Findings suggest that customer’s engagement within the hotel environment with multiple actors has an influence on customer value co-creation/destruction process. It found that positive and negative engagement fosters/hinders guests’ interactions which lead to value cocreation/ destruction. The research also discovered that negative interactions occasioned by any factor/actor triggers value destruction at multiple stages of the experience journey. The study suggests theoretical and managerial implications focused on the actors’ practices that foster or hinder customer engagement and value co-creation.

Customer online engagement is crucial to online travel websites which depend online reviews to attract new users and maintain current ones. The distinctive features of public attractions in tourism and the unique webdesign of TripAdvisor create an empirical environment for this study to explore the influence of customer experience and satisfaction on their engagement in posting reviews regarding public goods. Based on a sample of TripAdvisor-listed attractions and considering the information from over 37,000 online reviews, the empirical findings suggest that (1) customer online engagement is stronger (weaker) on paid (public) attractions, and (2) the positive effect of satisfaction on customer engagement in posting reviews is more evident among public attractions rather than paid attractions. This study concludes by offering managerial implications to regulators of public attractions, operators of travel websites, and managers of paid attractions.

Customers’ cognitive and affective responses evoked during shopping are closely linked to their attitude toward a brand (Kim, Park, Lee & Choi, 2016). Furthermore, personal traits have been known as important moderators. Studies on the antecedents of customer attitude have focused on the main effects of specific predictors and are yet to examine the combined effect of cognitive and affective responses during shopping and personal traits (Fiore & Kim, 2007). Using complexity theory, this study intends to fill this gap in the research, particularly in the luxury fashion retail context. Employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study offers 6 combination patterns of cognitive responses, affective responses, and personal traits leading to positive brand attitude. The results reveals three major findings. First, to shape a customer’s positive attitude toward a luxury brand, managing cognitive responses is more important than managing affective responses. Second, results show that avoiding negative feelings is more important than evoking positive feelings. Third, the combinations that lead to positive attitudes differ by the level of brand familiarity. This study contributes to the S-O-R literature by demonstrating the intertwined relationship between components of the organism (O) (i.e., cognition and emotion). The identified configurations can help luxury retail managers recognize patterns of influential factors on customer attitudes and better design retail experiences.

This study applies optimization-based algorithm to develop combination classification methods. We propose a genetic algorithm-based combination classification method of multiple decision trees to improve predictive accuracy, optimize classification rules, and interpret classification results. The basic algorithm for decision tree has been constructed in a top-down recursive divide-and-conquer manner. Based on different split measures (attribute selection measures), different decision tree algorithms can be produced, and then multiple decision trees can be formed. We proposed the parallel combination model of multiple decision trees. On top of the combination model, multiple decision trees are parallel combined. Each decision tree produces its own classification rules according to training samples from which one can present the classification result using probability distribution of target class label. At the bottom, the classification result of each decision tree serves as the input for combination algorithm in producing classification result and rules for the combination model. Combination algorithm adopts weighted summation of the outputs of probability measurement levels from individual decision trees, while genetic algorithm optimizes connection weight matrix. Finally the target class label with the largest probability output value is selected as the decision result for combination classification methods. The proposed method is applied to the issues of customer credit rating assessment and customer response behaviour pattern recognition in CRM. From the simulation results it is concluded that the proposed method has higher predictive accuracy than single decision tree. Moreover, it retains good interpretability and optimizes classification rules.

The Korean buffet restaurant, which was developed by combining the Korean food and a buffet, allows a large menu to be enjoyed at a reasonable price and has become popular with men and women, young and old, and become a new type of eating out. This study examined the effects of the waiting time management and menu quality on the customer satisfaction and re-visit intention in a Korean buffet restaurant to help quality improvement and development of Korean buffet restaurants. The customer satisfaction and re-visit intention only had a significant effect on the staff attitude toward waiting time. Hygiene, sensory factor, and variety of menu quality were significantly related to customer satisfaction and revisit intention, respectively. In addition, satisfaction with food and service had a significant effect on the re-visit intention and customer satisfaction. Therefore, it is important to establish a virtuous cycle structure that will improve the re-visit intention by satisfying customers through waiting time management and menu quality for the development of Korean buffet restaurants.

Each municipality is promoting signboard improvement projects, but the effectiveness is not great. The main reason for this is that when the signboard is manufactured the location of the shop is only dependent on the visual aspiration effect and it is not harmonized with the building by applying uniform design. The signboard are installed almost everywhere in the city, such as residential, natural and commercial environments. And the signboard provides various services such as traffic information and life safety to customers. Also, by applying design and functional elements, we can enhance the competitiveness of companies and improve the urban environment by enhancing the mutual connection effect of customers and space. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of design elements and functional elements of the signboard on customer preference. In other words, we conducted surveys and analyzes of 152 specialists and non-experts (customers, self-employed). As a result of the study, the following conclusions were drawn. First, the functions and design elements of signboards are important factors that have a positive effect on customer preference. Second, the function of the signboard has a positive(+) influence on the customer preference, and the information providing function and the corporate image side function directly affect the customer preference. Third, color elements have a positive(+) meaningful effect on customer preference. Especially, similar color sign affects customer preference positively. Fourth, the signboard design component has a positive(+) significant effect on customer preference. In particular, typefaces have a positive effect on customer preference.

본 연구는 항공기 객실승무원이 지각한 고객 불량행동, 정서적 고갈, 비인간화, 서비스 사보타주와 관련된 문헌연구를 바탕으로 고객 불량행동이 정서적 고갈, 비인간화, 서비스 사보타주에 미치는 영향을 구명하고자 하였다. 이를 위한 실증분석을 위해 항공기 객실승무원을 대상으로 설문지를 배포하여 자료를 수집하였으며, 구조방정식 모형을 활용해 가설을 검증하였다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 항공기 객실승무원이 지각한 고객 불량행동, 정서적 고갈, 비인간화, 서비스 사보타주와 관련된 기존연구를 토대로 이들 변수간의 관계를 밝힘으로서, 항공기 객실승무원의 직무수행 능력과 조직유효성을 높이기 위한 관리방향을 고찰하고 항공사의 경쟁력 확보를 위한 경영전략을 제안하는데 그 주된 목적을 두고 있다. 실증분석 결과, 제시된 9개의 가설 중 8개가 유의한 것으로 검증되었으나, 몇 가지 한계점을 드러내고 있어 향후 다른 업종에 동일하게 적용할 수 있도록 연구범위를 확대하고, 항공기 객실승무원의 근무여건과 환경 등 여러 가지 상황을 고려한 다양한 변수들에 대한 연구도 같이 이루어져야 할 것으로 판단된다. 또한 엄격한 척도순화과정에도 불구하고 몇몇의 척도는 제거되어 지는 등 신뢰성 측면에서 다소 만족스럽지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 향후 연구에서는 이를 보완하기 위하여 척도의 신뢰성과 타당성을 증대시켜야 할 것으로 사료된다.

This study examines whether or not the national technical qualification provides value to the examinee despite the environmental change through the KANO's dual questionnaire method for applicants who apply for the national technical qualification. So, We analyze the three functions of qualification and the incentive function, which is the characteristic of customer value, and evaluate what is the shortest part of the value of the qualification that the current customer feels and present the improvement plan. In general, the survey method has structural analysis and probabilistic analysis on the process and the result, but it does not exclude the convenience of the questionnaire itself. This study aims to demonstrate the difference between the results of the survey and the results of general surveys based on the potential weight of the subjects. Eventually, Many examinee speak to the national technical qualification non-value but Why they takes the national technical qualification? How change the Methods or theory of the national Qualification?. We would find to way for an accurate method and direction for the development of national qualification

Recently, service quality must reflect several demands of customers who show rapid and various changes so as to be compared with the past. So, objective and rapid measuring methods for service quality are necessary. For them, first of all, service company must calculate their standard of service quality accurately by measuring service quality exactly. Kano classified the degree of influence that is the degree of correspondence of the quality attributes of products and services to the subjective satisfaction of customers. As a result, the types of qualities are classified as attractive, must be, one dimensional, and indifference attributes. They have been widely used quality attributes in various industrial fields up to now. However, Kano model has a limit that it ignores the characters of the next frequent numbers even though there are not much gap comparing to the most frequent number in the questionnaire answers. The limit is attributed to the character of Kano model that the most frequent number is accepted as the only quality character. Timko calculated the customer satisfaction coefficient by using Kano’s method and studied the differences in quality character by classifying the quality characteristics in a graphical way through the relationship between the satisfaction and the dissatisfaction coefficient. In this study, we used the quality level determination method of the 7-point Likert scale, which takes the weight into account, to complement the deficiencies of the existing Kano model. We also developed and applied a Potential Satisfaction Level (P) and Potential Customer Demand Improvement (PCDI) Index to present a new approach to the determination of service quality attributes. To measure the level of potential service satisfaction and to understand the degree of improvement, we collected specimens of 51 participants who has been trained in the National Strategy Business Training Program, which has been managed by government agent, and analyzed the results.1)

This research was conducted to examine coffee shop customers’ preference and satisfaction by different types of promotion. Research samples ware adults with experience of any form of coffee shop promotion (n=209). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the relations among variables. Results showed that 'free coupon' was the most preferred ones. SNS was the most frequently used search method for coffee shop coupon promotion information. The most preferred event promotion was 'freebies', and preference levels were significantly different by age and employment status. 'Barista experience' was ranked highest in preference among cultural experience events. Drinking coffee was the most important purpose of visiting coffee shops, especially among unemployed, twenties, and women respondents. Coupon was evaluated the highest in usefulness and satisfaction among the three promotion methods. Event and cultural experience were preferred more by respondents in their twenties than those in their thirties. Results indicated that all promotion strategies are effective for increasing customer satisfaction and for inducing revisit. Findings also showed that preference for promotion was affected by customer characteristics such as age and gender. Therefore, coffee shops should consider using the most effective and attractive promotion strategy for their target market, while maintaining a consistent service quality level to fulfill customer expectation.

This paper is aimed at proposing a new approach to connecting the measurements of customer satisfaction on healthcare services with the prioritized identification of healthcare service processes to be improved. As customers’ requirements for healthcare services have become too diverse and healthcare service systems have been increasingly complex, there has been growing interest in the customer-oriented evaluation of healthcare service quality and the systematic improvement of healthcare service processes. Most of the previous studies on service quality evaluation are based on SERVQUAL model. However, because of the unique characteristics and constraints inherent in healthcare service systems, it has been reported that SERVQUAL would be inadequate to be applied to healthcare service systems. As an alternative, SERVPERF has recently been widely used in the evaluation of healthcare service quality. However, there is a lack of studies on how to use the measurements of healthcare service quality systematically to improve service functions and processes. With this issue in mind, we firstly measured the customer-perceived satisfaction on the healthcare service quality from the six dimensions based on SERVPERF. Then we identified the relationships between the subjective measurements and healthcare service processes through brainstorming and expert interview. By using the relationships, we developed a customer journey map in healthcare services that visually describe the interaction between customers and healthcare service systems. The developed customer journey map would help service designers easily identify a healthcare service process that needs to be improved with priority. It is expected that the design improvement process proposed in this study would be a useful method for enhancing the quality of healthcare services.

Recently, service quality must reflect several demands of customers who show rapid and various changes so as to be compared with the past. So, objective and rapid methods for them are necessary more. For them, first of all, service company must calculate their standard of service quality accurately by measuring service quality exactly. To measure service quality accurately, this researcher collected and analyzed data by survey for customers who are customers of logistics services, grasped potential satisfaction standard(P) by 5 point Likert scale and one survey for accurate classification of quality attributes through weighted customer satisfaction coefficient changing quality attributes by developing the study on Kano model and Timko's customer satisfaction coefficient, and suggested Potential Customer Satisfaction Improvement index(PCSI) for examining the improvement of customer satisfaction so as to utilize them as an index of differentiated and concrete measurement of service quality.

This study aims to configure what dimensions make up for smart phone after service quality, and how this service quality affects customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Smart phone market is a market of the device leading the digital convergence as well as positioning itself as one of the national growth driving industry. To survive in this matured market, companies should have to respond actively to radical changes and customers needs in the so-called Smart Revolution environment. Lately, however, the smart phone market is prospected to move from growth phase to mature phase by the scholars. In order to proactively respond to the change in such market condition, companies need to provide absolute advantage in customer loyalty over their competitors by revolutionizing the after-sales service quality. Qualified A/S will lead to service satisfaction and achieve customer loyalty. The empirical analysis results obtained through A/S quality are as follows : First, human quality (attitude, expertise, problem-solvability), environment quality (handling agility, convenience, comfort), service policy quality (quality guarantee, additional service operation) are dimensions that make up for A/S quality. Second, A/S quality dimension showed a significant positive influence on service satisfaction and A/S satisfaction showed a positive influence on customer loyalty as well. Based on this empirical study, we propose some implications for A/S quality improvement. First, human quality dimension has relatively higher influence on A/S satisfaction in case of free A/S, so companies need to solve the product problem completely when consumer’s first visit by continual employee education. Second, in case of paid A/S, the service policy quality-especially A/S Warranty period- has higher influence on A/S satisfaction.