Service worker behaviours and service setting facets – consumers' perspective

Purpose – This paper aims to uncover service worker behaviours and service setting facets contributing to satisfaction/dissatisfaction during critical service encounters in the context of interpersonal services in elaborate servicescape from consumers' perspectives. Design/methodology/approach – The study used the method of critical incident technique (CIT). In total, 371 critical service encounters were investigated. Actual service experience, with any one of the eight prominent interpersonal services, was collected from adult service consumers living in the national capital region of India. Findings – Dominant worker behaviours and setting facets contributing to satisfaction/dissatisfaction in critical service encounters are identified. Analysis of behaviours confirms behavioural categories suggested by previous research, i.e. recovery, adaptability, spontaneity, courteous, information sharing, connecting and identified one additional category, namely professional behaviour. Service setting facets are ambient condition, interior, exterior and other tangibles. Research limitations/implications – Data were collected only from adult service consumers living in the national capital region of India (urban area) with a minimum education qualification of graduation. Initial encounters are not treated separately. Practical implications – The identification of dominant behaviours and service setting facets in this research will help the managers to better manage and monitor service encounters leading to more satisfied customers. Originality/value – This is a pioneer empirical work which investigated the various employee behaviours and service setting facets that have resulted in consumers' satisfying/dissatisfying service experiences in the context of interpersonal services with elaborate servicescapes. This study has also identified one additional category of service worker behaviour and developed a reliable classification scheme, to analyze critical service encounters, which may be of use to future researchers.