Multiple paths to customer delight: the impact of effort, expertise and tangibles on joy and surprise

Abstract

Purpose Historically, firms have dedicated an abundance of resources in the pursuit of customer satisfaction and its corresponding favorable consequences. However, research indicates that customer satisfaction may not necessarily result in the outcomes pursued. This paper aims to focus on the concept of customer delight and explore antecedents and consequences of interest to the service firm. More specifically, the proposed model explores the linkages of employee effort, employee expertise and the firm’s tangibles to customer surprise and joy which in turn lead to customer delight and per cent of budget spent. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a grocery store. The hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings Results from this study yield new insights into the dual pathways leading to customer delight through joy and surprise. That is, joy and tangibles lead to both joy and surprise, whereas expertise leads to joy alone. Both joy and surprise are completely mediated through delight to per cent of budget spent. Interestingly, higher frequency customers experience a stronger relationship from joy to delight. Research limitations/implications The findings have implications for the ongoing debate on the viability of customer delight and extending the theoretical understanding of why customer delight represents such a powerful force in the service environment. Practical implications By providing specific variables that impact both joy and surprise, management can develop tactics to develop delight initiatives. Originality/value This is the first study proposing multiple paths to customer delight. Further, this is the first study to link needs based and disconfirmation into a single model.

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“…CS has been considered as meeting customer expectations [10]. Nevertheless, there are two major approaches in literature regarding the conceptualization of delight.…”

“…Nevertheless, there are two major approaches in literature regarding the conceptualization of delight. The first applies the disconfirmation theory, which itself implies that delight can be achieved by surpassing desired expectations [10], and the second views delight from a physiological point of view as the combination of high pleasure and high arousal. Therefore, as Loureiro et al [7] posit, satisfaction is defined as consumers' evaluative judgments based on more cognitive responses than delight.…”

“…According to Parasuraman [9], the tolerance zone establishes the difference between the desired service level and the level of service considered adequate. Both concepts share a clear similarity in the dominant role of the disconfirmation theory, which states that delight is a natural evolution from satisfaction [10]. Thus, Torres [11], whose study was founded on psychology literature, defines the difference between customer satisfaction (CS) and CD, underlining that delight is more affective, whereas satisfaction is more attitudinal.…”

“…Thus, Torres [11], whose study was founded on psychology literature, defines the difference between customer satisfaction (CS) and CD, underlining that delight is more affective, whereas satisfaction is more attitudinal. Furthermore, in comparison with satisfaction, delight has a higher impact on post-consumption behaviors, such as loyalty [10].Customers perceive the same service in different ways depending on their previous experiences, cultural factors [12], or need's hierarchy [13]. A customer's delight perception of a service may even diverge from what the service provider had planned if the customer was able to participate in the co-creation of experiences [12].…”

“…Thus, Torres [11], whose study was founded on psychology literature, defines the difference between customer satisfaction (CS) and CD, underlining that delight is more affective, whereas satisfaction is more attitudinal. Furthermore, in comparison with satisfaction, delight has a higher impact on post-consumption behaviors, such as loyalty [10].…”