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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Under-over benefitting perceptions and evaluation of services

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description

Purpose– In the context of service exchanges, the purpose of this paper is to examine the form of the link from under-benefitting (customers receive less than they invest) vs over-benefitting (customers receive more than they invest) perceptions to customer service evaluations. The authors assess three competing hypotheses: maximization, fairness, and the asymmetric hypotheses.Design/methodology/approach– Linear and nonlinear relationships between under-over benefitting perceptions and service evaluations are examined following a test-retest approach. These relationships are investigated in four samples from two survey studies: hotels (Time 1,n=591; Time 2,n=512) and restaurants (Time 1,n=536; Time 2,n=473).Findings– Results confirmed the existence of asymmetrical curvilinear relationships. Service evaluations improve sharply when perceptions move from under-benefitting perceptions to balanced situations. However, service evaluations do not improve in high over-benefitting situations.Practical implications– The design of employee tasks and services should avoid both under-benefitting perceptions and a disproportionate maximization of customer benefits.Originality/value– Previous research studies have investigated these types of relationships by computing linear relationships or comparing different groups of customers. The current research tests the link from under-over benefitting perceptions to customer service evaluations by also considering nonlinear relationships. This approach supports an asymmetrical curvilinear relationship that captures the complexity of service exchanges.