Impacts of customer service on relationship quality: an empirical study in China

Purpose – The paper investigates the impacts of customer‐service interactions on relationship quality in retailing services in China.Design/methodology/approach – The study proposes a conceptual model of the relationship between the construct of “customer service” (conceptualised in terms of customers' interactions with service personnel and customers' interactions with the service environment) and the construct of relationship quality (conceptualised in terms of satisfaction, trust, and commitment). The hypothesised relationships are then tested in an empirical study with a sample of 295 retailing customers in China.Findings – Both kinds of interactions (with service personnel and with the service environment) are shown to have a direct positive impact on relationship quality. However, the customers' interactions with the environment are found to have a greater impact than their interactions with service personnel on customers' perceptions of relationship quality. Moreover, “environment rules” (such as p...

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