The effect of mindfulness on service encounter quality

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore the effect of employees’ state mindfulness, a short period of mindful presence, on the quality of the service they provide in a service encounter. Design/methodology/approach Three studies are conducted. A pilot study explores the relationship between state mindfulness and service encounter quality. Experiment 1 examines whether a 15-min mindfulness exercise results in an increase in service employees’ state mindfulness. Experiment 2 tests whether induced state mindfulness produces higher service quality and whether a reminding technique can prolong state mindfulness between service encounters. Findings The results demonstrate the following. First, that more mindful employees provide better service quality. Second, that a short, easily implemented, mindfulness exercise can reliably increase employees’ state mindfulness. Third, induced mindfulness has an impact on subsequent service quality in terms of reliability, assurance, empathy and responsiveness. These effects persist regardless of the service encounter structure (high vs low structure) or the degree of emotional labor involved (high vs low emotionally charged). Finally, the reminding technique developed as part of this research suggests that state mindfulness can be maintained between service encounters. Research limitations/implications As simulated (programmed) customers are used, independent evaluators to assess service quality are used. Service providers in this study are college students; future field studies should consider a wider range of service providers. The research focuses on state mindfulness; exploration of trait mindfulness offers future research opportunities. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to empirically examine the link between mindfulness and service quality. It shows that mindfulness can be induced, and through a reminding technique be maintained, and improve service quality across service interactions. This is a powerful finding for marketing managers, for it offers a new method to enhance service provision. Moreover, this research implies that the increase in service quality is likely to be accompanied by reduced job burnout: a double win for employees, employers and customers.

The effect of brief mindfulness‐based intervention on patient satisfaction and loyalty after waiting

“…It is important to clarify that the term mindfulness can be used to refer to a trait, a state, and a meditation practice (Kabat‐Zinn, 2003; Vago & Silbersweig, 2012). Mindfulness as a trait refers to the individual's tendency to reside in the state of attention over time; the state of mindfulness refers to a brief (temporary) state of mindfulness; mindfulness as a formal practice represents the trained ability to cultivate and reside longer in a state of attention (Davidson et al, 2003; Vago & Silbersweig, 2012; Wang et al, 2021).…”

“…Furthermore, most mindfulness research in consumer behavior lies on participants' selfreported mindfulness measures (see Wang et al, 2021 2. As evident from Table 2, there is a need for more research that applies mindfulness intervention with respect to consumers.…”

“…Furthermore, most mindfulness research in consumer behavior lies on participants' self‐reported mindfulness measures (see Wang et al, 2021 for a review). There exists little research in consumer behavior that explores the effects of mindfulness‐based interventions.…”

“…Past research has shown the effectiveness of one‐time interventions (Shapiro et al, 2007). There exist multiple ways to introduce one‐time interventions, such as in‐person instructor led (Oman et al, 2008; Shapiro et al, 2007), video recordings (Pflugeisen et al, 2016), and audio recordings (Wang et al, 2021). Meditations can also vary in length.…”

“…While mindfulness research has been explored in business service contexts (Hafenbrack, 2017; Wang et al, 2021), specifically in healthcare settings (Ndubisi, 2014), and in consumer behavior (Bahl et al, 2016; Pereira & Coelho, 2019) the existing research that focuses on mindfulness‐based interventions in marketing is scarce (e.g., Sermboonsang et al, 2020; Van De Veer et al, 2016). For instance, Wang et al (2021) demonstrate how mindfulness intervention can increase the service quality of employees in a service encounter. Burton et al (2017) and Gilmartin et al (2017) provide a systematic literature review on the effects of mindfulness interventions on healthcare providers.…”