PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on and discuss findings of a research study undertaken to investigate and establish empirically reasons why people use, or choose not to use, three types of technology‐enabled service: internet banking, telephone bill‐paying, and internet shopping services.Design/methodology/approachA behavioural model is developed and tested, and the results support what is modelled and hypothesised.FindingsIn sum, the findings show that willingness to use the internet and telephone for financial and shopping services is influenced by the individual sense of personal capacity or capability to engage with these service systems, the perceived risks and relative advantages associated with their use, and the extent to which contact with service personnel is preferred or deemed necessary. The paper also contains attitudinal and behavioural insights, and concludes by discussing managerial implications and opportunities for further research.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations of the study are acknowledged, and opportunities for further research are highlighted.Originality/valueThe value of the paper lies in the light shed on usage behaviour and attitudes, and in the practical implications of these findings for service providers.

PurposeTo provide an alternative view of customer value and service quality as conceptualized in the service‐profit chain.Design/methodology/approachA survey of the vast and diverse literature on the concepts of value and quality is used to reconceptualize these constructs as they are used in the service‐profit chain. The concept of intrinsic value and quality is proposed as an addition to the extrinsic value and quality concepts already apparent in the chain.FindingsThe service‐profit chain is based on the premise that profitability to a firm derives from customer satisfaction and loyalty, which, in turn, are derived from a customer's sense of value received. This value, it is argued, is calculated with reference to the perceived quality of what is received, balanced against the aggregated costs to the customer of availing themselves of the service. This paper questions the sufficiency of the assumption that value offered to a customer resides solely in the customer's perception of what has been experienced in and through the service encounter. Correspondingly, it is argued that value to the customer may reside also in intrinsic qualities or attributes of a service.Originality/valueThe idea of value and quality being built into a service offering (intrinsic) has value for both practising service managers and academic researchers. Several avenues for future investigation are posited.

Purpose -Internal organisational aspects of service delivery from the employee's perspective have received some attention in the literature. However, there is a need for more detailed empirical research to explore the possible impacts of specific internal service factors (ISFs) on service quality. This paper seeks to consider the overall influence of customer-employee interactions, and to discuss and test empirically the relative influence of five ISFs that interface with internal marketing strategies. Design/methodology/approach -Empirical data were collected from a sample (n ¼ 202) of supermarket employees across a large metropolitan city. The data analysis used bivariate correlations, stepwise regression, and structural equation modelling. Findings -The main research findings, from the employee perceptions of service quality, suggest that there are three main predictor variables, namely, service orientation, service role flexibility, and non-standardised scripted behaviour. The most important internal service quality predictor variable is employees' service orientation attitude, followed by non-standardised scripted service behaviour and third by the organisational policy to adopt and change (flexible) service roles.Research limitations/implications -The research needs to be expanded by investigating simultaneously the viewpoints about service quality by managers and actual consumers. Practical implications -Retail marketing managers need to be mindful that ISFs have the potential to indirectly influence consumer perceptions through employee behaviours and perceptions of customers' needs. The five ISFs identified in this research can serve as a basis for differentiating a service brand. Originality/value -The paper highlights the importance of five internal service success factors that influence service quality.

The use of technology to enable or facilitate the delivery of services has the potential to benefit customers and service providers alike. Correspondingly, however, the purposes to which technology is put, and the manner in which it is used, also has the potential to disenfranchise customers. Therefore the operational desirability and gains of any employment of technology to facilitate service provision should be balanced against the perceptions and behavioural response of customers. Our research aims to shed light on the reasons why customers adopt or reject technologically facilitated means of service delivery, and to develop a means by which likely adoption or rejection may be predicted. The research we have undertaken to date suggests that adoption or rejection of technologically facilitated services is moderated by the personal capacity and willingness of individuals.

PurposeThis paper sets out to consider the role that can be played by independent professional accreditation systems and processes in influencing and grounding the intrinsic quality of what is offered by a service provider who has secured this certification.Design/methodology/approachThe approach takes the form of personal interviews conducted with senior management personnel within a range of accommodation providers who were responsible for preparing their accreditation submission.FindingsMore than 80 percent of respondents agreed that the process of applying for accreditation forced a critical review of all aspects of their operations, and heightened their awareness of things that could prove problematic and ways by which these problems could be effectively countered. Respondents also agreed that the process served to motivate the development and detailed documentation of policies, systems and procedures, which enabled greater consistency in the standard of what is provided.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that rigorous accreditation processes help service providers to review and confirm the appropriateness of what may already be in place, to ground the quality of what might need to be put in place, and to improve the standard of what is currently in place.Originality/valueThe paper augments what is posited by the service‐profit chain framework, shows how a focus on intrinsic quality can help to close the service design and standards gap, and also shows how extrinsic and independent professional accreditation processes can ground and enable the intrinsic quality and standard of what is offered.