Purpose

– This study aims to focus on what types of atmospheric experiences emotionally touch visitors at a winter park. The objective is to describe and explain the relationship between: three atmospheric constructs (ambience, interaction, and design); the construct of joy; and the construct of customer loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research data are based on a study of customers visiting a Norwegian winter park, in which 162 visitors participated in the survey. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the measurements and structural properties between atmospheric experiences, joy, and loyalty to winter parks.

Findings

– The findings reveal that two out of the three constructs of atmospheric experiences are linked to customers' feelings of joy, namely, design and interaction. The atmospheric construct of design had the strongest impact on customers' emotions. Furthermore, the study finds that customers' feelings of joy are highly related to the construct of customer loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

– The study limits its focus to one type of hedonic service, namely customers visiting a winter park. Although the results from the study offer implications for other winter parks, there is a need for further research in other hedonic services to verify their validity, reliability, and generality.

Practical implications

– The study emphasizes how important it is that managers of hedonic services consider the significance of the atmospheric construct of design in such a way that it contributes positively to customers' experiences of the service setting. In particular, managers should focus on design in relation to customers' experiences in order to evoke feelings of joy.

Originality/value

– The study establishes the need to manage customers' atmospheric experiences in winter parks. It also links atmospheric constructs to customers' emotions. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and test a construct of perceived justice and its DIP-dimensions (i.e. distributive, interactional, and procedural) in the context of both the consumers' initial negative service experiences' and the following processes of complaint handling. The objective is also to investigate similarities and differences of perceived justice in negative service experiences and complaint handling, and the validity of the constructs over time.

Design/methodology/approach: A triangular approach is used, based upon interviews and a survey in the Norwegian tourism industry. This paper reports on the results from a survey consisting of 3,104 customers. Comparative and confirmatory testing of perceived justice during the initial service encounter and subsequent complaint-handling process has been performed.

Findings: The DIP-dimensions of the construct of perceived justice in the service encounters tested have indicated a satisfactory fit, validity, and reliability.

Research limitations/implications: The empirical findings provide a seed for future research to refine and extend corporate endeavors in managing critical incidents of both service encounters and service recovery.

Practical implications: Strategies to manage the perceived justice in negative service encounters and complaint handling should aim at managing the DIP-dimensions of negative incidents in service encounters.

Originality/value: The DIP-construct brings together, complements and fortifies existing theory and previous research in the context of justice in service encounters and complaint handling. Addressing both pre- and post-complaint processes provides a complementary contribution to the field in focus. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Studies of the construct of service quality have traditionally been undertaken from the perspective of the service receiver. More recently, research has focused on both the service provider's perspective and the service receiver's perspective. In addition, there have also been some triadic network approaches to the study of service quality. However, there has been very little research into sequential service quality in service-encounter chains (that is, consecutive service performances in a series of service encounters). The incorporation of connected service encounters in services management can improve understanding of sequential service quality in service-encounter chains. This paper provides a customized construct of sequential service quality and highlights the importance of time, context, and performance threshold in service-encounter chains. Furthermore, the paper presents a generic five-phase performance process, and a customized six-dimensional construct of sequential service quality.

Generally, the article provides a fundament beyond the state-of-the-art construct of service quality. In particular, the content is dedicated to the construct of interactive service quality in service encounters. Interactive service quality in a service encounter requires the simultaneous consideration of the service provider's and service receiver's perspectives. Furthermore, it also demands the consideration of both the service provider's and the service receiver's expectations and perceptions in a service encounter. The theoretical contribution is a generic conceptual framework of interactive service quality in service encounters consisting of the service continuum, the service cycle, and an interactivity model. The managerial contribution is a model of the invisibility dilemma of a service offer, the features of interactive service quality and an application model of interactive service quality in service encounters. Suggestions for further research are also proposed.

Although the performance of services is done at an operative level, service is an important issue for the strategic, tactical, and operative business activities of companies. This paper examines the construct of interactive service quality in service encounters. This is a complex approach that goes beyond the current exploration of the service-quality construct. Interactive service quality requires the simultaneous consideration of the service provider's perspective and the service receiver's perspective. The study was conducted in the Swedish automotive industry and focused on the issues of interactive service quality between a vehicle manufacturer and a selection of its most important suppliers. The major contributions of the research provide an on-the-spot account of interactive service quality. The paper provides theoretical and managerial implications of the construct of interactive service quality in service encounters.

Looks at the generality and reliability of multi‐item measures that are based upon the perception of one or more individuals. Proposes that at least an overall time aspect is missing, which would contribute to the measurement of the perceived direction of change in a specific empirical context. The issues raised in current marketing research literature on the use of multi‐item measures relate to the generality and reliability of the findings regarding time and space. Emphasises the limits of the issues of time. The characteristics of data collected using a particular multi‐item measurement scale determine the reliability of the findings. Determines, by a methodological procedure, the generality of the empirical outcome. The results may lack reliability and generality over time even if the same items of measurement are used in the same context. Therefore, introduces an overall trend dimension in multi‐item measures in order to incorporate the time aspect for each dimension in a construct. The trend dimension makes it possible to measure the perceived direction of change, and complements the facets, as well as the perceptual degree, of a phenomenon or object in a specific empirical context.

Purpose

– The objective is to describe the “ethnocentricity” (i.e. geographical affiliation of editor(s), editorial board(s), editorial review board(s) and author(s)) of selected journals in services management.

Design/methodology/approach

– The sample is restricted to the examination and comparison of five top journals in services management during a six‐year period. In total, the content analysis consisted of 1,189 articles.

Findings

– The authors contend that there is in part a troublesome and challenging “ethnocentricity” in some of the examined journals.

Research limitations/implications

– The impact of “ethnocentricity” is underestimated in the examinations of academic journals in the field of services management. It is an important issue that needs to be raised and discussed in literature, due to the paradigmatic influences that it may have on the journal and its characteristics – in extension, the journal ranking and the journal quality.

Practical implications

– The authors provide some suggestions, all of which are troublesome to implement. If done, it has to be done progressively and it will take time to not lose the current editorial scope and success of the journal.

Originality/value

– This paper fills a knowledge gap in the literature by examining specific aspects of the “ethnocentricity” of “top” journals in the particular area of services management.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the “empirical characteristics” of the “top” journals in services marketing by assessing selected journals with respect to: the proportion of “empirical” versus “non-empirical” contributions; the proportion of national versus international research data; the geographical origin of research data; and the geographical affiliations of the authors whose articles are published. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of “top” journals in services marketing is selected on the basis of expert opinion. The selection includes the International Journal of Service Industry Management (IJSIM), the Journal of Services Marketing (JSM), the Journal of Service Research (JSR), Managing Service Quality (MSQ), and the Service Industries Journal (SIJ). The study considers all contributions (a total of 1,189) published in these journals over a six-year period from 2000 to 2005, with particular emphasis on the “empirical” studies (a subtotal of 870). Findings – The authors contend that there is in part a troublesome and challenging “ethnocentricity” in some of the examined journals. Research limitations/implications – This is the first assessment of the “empirical characteristics” of “top” journals in services marketing. Practical implications – The study provides valuable insights into the nature of academic publishing in the area of services marketing. Originality/value – Scholars will benefit from insights into the “empirical characteristics” of the “top” journals in services marketing. In particular, scholars can note the particular features of individual journals. Further studies of the “empirical characteristics” of individual research journals are required in other sub-disciplines of marketing.