Apparel retailers are seeking a competitive advantage over other companies and good salesperson service may be a way to create that advantage; however, management may institute policies that are barriers to good salesperson service and thus lose that competitive advantage. In a 2 by 2 laboratory experiment 200 volunteer college women viewed slides of a store's interior, listened to a tape of a salesperson resolving a problem according to store policy, and indicated their satisfaction and patronage intent. Results suggest that in many situations, dissatisfaction with salesperson service may be the result of policies instituted by management which fail to meet customer expectations.
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