Within the restaurant and hospitality industry, employee behaviors and relationships are important in determining customer satisfaction. The present study extended the hospitality literature regarding customer satisfaction in three ways using a cross-sectional survey design. First, the relationship between manager communications and customer orientation was explored, and results supported a positive, significant relationship. Second, this study helped confirm past studies that have tested the relationship between customer orientation and customer satisfaction using a single-item customer response measure. Finally, a meditational test examined whether customer orientation carries the full influence of a manager’s communication and the resulting customer satisfaction. Results supported the meditational test. Practical and theoretical implications are explored for both hospitality researchers and practitioners.
AndersonS.Klein PearoL.WidenerS. K. (2008). Drivers of service satisfaction: Linking customer satisfaction to the service concept and customer characteristics. Journal of Service Research, 10, 365-381.
2.
BaronR. M.KennyD. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
3.
BlieseP. D. (2000). Within-group agreement, non-independence, and reliability: Implications for data aggregation and analysis. In KleinK. J.KozloskiJ. (Eds.), Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations: Foundations, extensions, and new directions (pp. 349-381). San Francisco, CA: Joseey-Bass.
4.
BoruckiC. C.BurkeM. J. (1999). An examination of service-related antecedents to retail store performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 943-962.
5.
BowenD. E.SiehlC.SchneiderB. (1989). A framework for analyzing customer service orientations in manufacturing. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 75-95.
6.
BrownT. J.MowenJ. C.DonavanD. T.LicataJ. W. (2002). The customer orientation of service workers: Personality trait effects on self-and supervisor performance ratings. Journal of Marketing Research39(1), 110-119.
ColwellS.Hogarth-ScottS.DepengJ.JoshiA. (2009). Effects of organizational and serviceperson orientation on customer loyalty. Management Decision, 47, 1489-1513.
9.
DonavanD. T.BrownT. J.MowenJ. C. (2004). Internal benefits of service-worker customer orientation: Job satisfaction, commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Marketing, 68(1), 128-146.
10.
DroletA. L.MorrisonD. G. (2001). Do we really need multiple-item measures in service research?Journal of Service Research, 3, 196-204.
11.
GrizzleJ. W.ZablahA. R.BrownT. J.MowenJ. C.LeeJ. M. (2009). Employee customer orientation in context: How the environment moderates the influence of customer orientation on performance outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1227-1242.
12.
HarrisK. J.HarrisR. B.WheelerA. R. (2009). Relationships between politics, supervisor communication, and job outcomes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39, 2669-2688.
13.
HarrisK. J.KacmarK. M. (2005). Easing the strain: The buffer role of supervisors in the perceptions of politics-strain relationship. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78, 337-354.
14.
KimB.GeorgeR. T. (2005). The relationship between leader member exchange and psychological empowerment: A quick casual restaurant employee correlation study. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 29, 468-483.
15.
KimW.OkC. (2009). Customers’ responses to customer orientation of service employees in full-service restaurants: A relational benefits perspective. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 10, 153-174.
16.
LiaoH.ChuangA. (2004). A multilevel investigation of factors influencing employee service performance and customer outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 47(1), 41-58.
17.
LiaoH.SubramonyM. (2008). Employee customer orientation in manufacturing organizations: Joint influences of customer proximity and the senior leadership team. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 317-328.
18.
LiawY.-J.ChiN.-W.ChuangA. (2010). Examining the mechanisms linking transformational leadership, employee customer orientation, and service performance: The mediating roles of perceived supervisor and coworker support. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25, 477-492.
19.
MatheK. (2011). An individual, unit, and organizational-level examination of perceived external prestige, psychological capital, and psychological empowerment in quick service restaurants (Doctoral dissertation), Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. Available from ProQuest Dissertations. (UMI No. 3495875)
20.
McCroskeyJ. C.RichmondV. P. (2000). Applying reciprocity and accommodation theories to the supervisor/subordinate communication. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 28, 278-289.
21.
NetemeyerR. G.MaxhamJ. G.III. (2007). Employee versus supervisor ratings of performance in the retail customer service sector: Differences in predictive validity for customer outcomes. Journal of Retailing, 83(1), 131-145.
22.
NetemeyerR. G.MaxhamJ. G.IIILichtensteinD. R. (2010). Store manager performance and satisfaction: Effects on store employee performance and satisfaction, store customer satisfaction, and store customer spending growth. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 530-545.
23.
PloyhartR. E.WiechmannD.SchmittN.SaccoJ. M.RoggK. (2003). The cross-cultural equivalence of job performance ratings. Human Performance, 16(1), 49-79.
PreacherK. J.ZyphurM. J.ZhangZ. (2010). A general multilevel SEM framework for assessing multilevel mediation. Psychological Methods, 15, 209-233.
26.
SalanovaM.AgutS.PeiroJ. M. (2005). Linking organizational resources and work engagement to employee performance and customer loyalty: The mediation of service climate. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1217-1227.
27.
ZhangZ.ZyphurM. J.PreacherK. J. (2009). Testing multilevel mediation using hierarchical linear models: Problems and solutions. Organizational Research Methods, 12, 1-25.
