Chapter 5 Managing Service Encounters
DOI: 10.23912/9781915097132-5074 | ISBN: 9781915097132 |
Published: March 2022 | Component type: chapter |
Published in: Customer Service for Hospitality and Tourism 3rd edn | Parent DOI: 10.23912/9781915097132-5067 |
Abstract
The opening spotlight highlights the critical importance of ‘service encoun- ters’, defined as “the dyadic interaction between a customer and a service providerâ€(Surprenant and Solomon, 1987: 87). Marcos van Aken of Ten Travel spe- cializes in personalized and customized service for his clients, and has developed strong business relationships because of this attention to detail. The majority of research examining social interactions in commercial service settings has focused on such exchanges between consumers and frontline employees (e.g. Gremler and Gwinner, 2000; Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1988). This is particularly the case within tourism and hospitality settings, including hotels (Hartline and Jones, 1996), restaurants (Lin and Mattila, 2010), and tour groups (Conze et al.,, 2010). As “service encounters are first and foremost social encounters†(McCallum and Harrison, 1985: 35), it follows that consumers derive important social benefits, which include friendship, personal recognition, and enjoyable connections with service providers, particularly in high-contact, customized personal services (Gwinner et al., 1998). Companies can also derive corresponding benefits, as the opening spotlight illustrates.
Contributors
- Dr. Simon Hudson, University of South Carolina (Author)
- Louise Hudson, Freelance Journalist (Author)
For the source title:
- Dr. Simon Hudson, University of South Carolina (Author)
- Louise Hudson, Freelance Journalist (Author)
Cite as
Hudson & Hudson, 2022
Hudson, D.S. & Hudson, L. (2022) "Chapter 5 Managing Service Encounters" In: Hudson, D.S. & Hudson, L. (ed) . Oxford: Goodfellow Publishers http://dx.doi.org/10.23912/9781915097132-5074
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