Understanding Customer-Service Encounter Behavior: A Framework

The provided content comprises a collection of research studies and articles that focus on various aspects of service encounter behaviors, quality attributes, and customer expectations in the context of hospitality and tourism industries. The studies explore topics such as task-relationship-self framework, restaurant quality attributes, fast food restaurant service quality, hotel service quality, corporate image, service agent empowerment, consumer advocacy, cultural values, personalization, attraction, tangible service quality, nonverbal communication, customer-employee rapport, brand advocates, and employee burnout. The findings of these studies offer insights into how service encounters can be improved to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Running head: SERVICE MARKETING AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
Service Marketing and Relationship Marketing
Name of the Student:
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1SERVICE MARKETING AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
Executive Summary
Service encounter defines the point of interaction between the customers and service providing
organization. This study has selected Attica Restaurant of Australia for describing its service encounter.
The study has drawn service blueprint of the restaurant by assessing its front stage and back stage
functions. It has been found that the customer satisfaction of the restaurant is equally dependent on front
stage and back stage functions. The study has also described the moment of truth of the restaurant in
terms of its variety of food items. Apart from that, the study has assessed the determinants for both
customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction of Attica. The restaurant has wide variety of food items, but
there is lack of specialty in its service quality. Apart from that, the study has also decried the service
quality measurement and recovery stage plan for improving the customer satisfaction level of Attica.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
2.0 Service Blueprint.......................................................................................................................2
3.0 Front stage and back stage functions.........................................................................................3
4.0 Moments of Truth for Service Organization.............................................................................3
5.0 Determinants of satisfaction/dissatisfaction..............................................................................3
5.1 Determinants of satisfaction...................................................................................................3
5.1.1 Variety in Food Services.................................................................................................3
5.1.2 Great Location.................................................................................................................3
5.1.3 Quality of Foods..............................................................................................................3
5.1.4 Excellence of Services.....................................................................................................5
5.2 Determinants of Dissatisfaction.............................................................................................5
5.2.1 Unable to Provide Service in Time.................................................................................5
5.2.2 Lack of Friendly Approach of Staffs...............................................................................5
5.2.3 Lack of Specialty in Dishes.............................................................................................5
6.0 Service Quality Measurement....................................................................................................5
6.1 SERVQUAL Model...............................................................................................................6
6.2 Quality Gaps..........................................................................................................................6
7.0 Service-recovery strategy plan in critical incidents...................................................................7
7.1 Specialty in Service Quality...................................................................................................7
7.2 Warm Behavior of Restaurant Staffs.....................................................................................7
7.3 Customized Quality in Foods.................................................................................................8
8.0 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................8
Reference List..................................................................................................................................9

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1.0 Introduction
Service encounter defines the transactional interaction between the service organizations
and customers, which make the foundation for customer satisfaction (Wong 2013). The service
organization selected for this study is Attica. It is a popular restaurant in Australian, which
provide excellent quality restaurant services to the customers (Attica.com.au 2017). The study
will draw the service blueprint for the restaurant by describing its front stage and back stage
functions. Furthermore, the study will also discuss the moment of truth for the restaurant and
assess the determinants for the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the customers. The study will
also represent the service quality measurement and recovery strategic plan for the restaurant.

Arrive at restaurant Wait at QueuePlace order and make paymentCollect receiptsHead towards other countersHand over receipts for verificationReceive Food and drinksPick cutlery and drinksOpen seat and eatDispose leftovers
External
Appearance
Restaurant
interior and
items
Paper menus,
items and
receipts
Large
displays, food
item offers,
salads and
sandwiches
Equipment
consisting
ovens& grills
Tables with
movable
screens and
chairs
Non-recyclable
and recyclable
trash bins
Self-serve counter with various
cutlery, sausages and napkins
Greet, record,
order, collect
payment
Print,
handover
receipt
Verify
payment and
call out order
Hand over
food
Removing
trash from
bins
Prepare food Daily
cleaning
Payment
system
Evidence Physical
Actions (Customer)
On-stage technology actions
On-stage employee contact
Back-stage employee contact
Support Processes
Pain Points Waiting in line
Centralized delivery system
Long waiting period
Line of Interaction
Line of Visibility
Line of Internal Interaction
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2.0 Service Blueprint
Figure 1: Service Blueprint of Restaurant
(Source: Attica.com.au 2017)

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3.0 Front stage and back stage functions
Service encounter can be explicitly recognized as the interaction between customers and
service providers in a service organization. According to Sørensen, Sundbo and Mattsson (2013),
service encounter is a significant determinant customer satisfaction, which measures the degree
to which organizations can enhance its service quality towards fully satisfying its customers. On
the other hand, Söderlund (2017) opined that service encounter exclusively focuses on the
behavior and action of the employees and excludes the role of customers in the interaction.
Attica Restaurant is extremely popular for providing complete satisfaction to their customers.
The restaurant is one of the best original cuisines, where purity of texture, flavor and balance is
paramount. Attica has divided its whole service process into front stage and back stage
functions for providing personalized and genuine service to the customers. Each of the back
stage and front stage function of the restaurant have unique set of functions towards providing
authentic services to the customers (Karami, Maleki and Dubinsky 2016). Moreover, the while
service process of the restaurant is occurred through reservation of restaurant, arrival, check in,
occupying table, providing foods, paying bills.
As per Soderlund and Soderlund (2017) front stage functions have direct interaction with
the customers and such services directly influence on the satisfaction level of the customers. The
front stage staffs like security gourds, receptionist, waiters, and cashier and floor co-
coordinators. The security gourd of Attica is the first staff to which customers are to directly
interact first. The restaurant has highly talented and polite receptionists at their receptionist
desks. They provide warm and deep-heartened welcome to the customers, while they enter into
the restaurant. Song and Noone (2017) pointed out that management of the restaurant always
ensures that the receptionists are updated with the information of new visitors, who will be
visiting the restaurant within few hours. Furthermore, the floor coordinators of the restaurants are
well informed about the needs and preferences of the customers. Therefore, the restaurant is well
capable of providing comfortable ambient and customized foods to the customers as pet their
preferences and tastes. Apart from that, Giesbrecht, Schwabe and Schenk (2017) opined that the
waiters of a restaurant should be highly polite and efficient in interacting with the customers.
While assessing the waiters of Attica, it can be found that the waiters are highly polite in their
manner and skilled enough towards providing warm greet to the customers. Furthermore, the
cashiers of the restaurant are high accurate and efficient in their calculation for preparing
accurate and fair billing amount of the customers (Jayasimha and Srivastava 2017).
The success of a restaurant is highly dependent on proper coordination between the front
stage functions and backstage functions. Lin et al. (2017) pointed out that the backstage staffs of
a restaurant do not have any direct interaction and function with the customers, but have huge
contribution in the satisfaction level of the customers. In case of online reservation of the
restaurant table, the reservation managers do not have direct interaction with the customers, but
have important role in booking the table for the customers. Furthermore, Kuppelwieser et al.
(2016) opined that the chef of a restaurant does not have direct interaction with the customers, but
play the most crucial role for the satisfaction level of the customers. While assessing the chefs of
Attica, it can be said that the chefs cook perfectly in customized manner having huge knowledge
about customers’ food preferences. In this way, the chefs have no direct interaction with the
customers, but play important role in satisfying the customers (Wu and Mohi 2015).

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4.0 Moments of Truth for Service Organization
Moment of Truth defines the point of interaction between the customers and service
organization. Bradley et al. (2013) pointed out that Moment of Truth provides an opportunity to
the customers towards forming an impression about the firm. Attica is extremely capable of
providing genuine and personalized dining experience to the customers. Moreover, the restaurant
treats all the customers graciously and warmly. The special dining experience encourages the
customers towards repeatedly visiting the restaurant. Furthermore, the restaurant is highly
decorated with amazing marvels and unique design. Such attractive design also attracts the
customers towards the restaurant. On the other hand, Kevoe-Feldman (2015) opined that the
restaurant provides multiple courses of delicious foods to the customers. Moreover, the foods are
prepared from the best chefs of Australia. Therefore, the customers can get best food experience
from the food quality of the restaurants. Furthermore, Sweeney et al. (2016) opined that the
restaurant also provides 20% discounts on advanced online booking of the restaurant. In this
way, it actually enhances the loyalty level of the customers.
5.0 Determinants of satisfaction/dissatisfaction
5.1 Determinants of satisfaction
5.1.1 Variety in Food Services
Attica has wide variety of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items. Lee, Lee and
Dewald (2016) pointed out that wide variety of food items meets the needs of different kinds of
customers. For the vegetarian foods, there are separate sections in the restaurant. Apart from that,
the organization also offers varieties of wines for the wine loving customers. Furthermore,
Bujisic, Hutchinson and Parsa (2014) opined that the in non-vegetarian, the customers can
maximum varieties of foods for meeting the customized tastes of the customers.
5.1.2 Great Location
The hotel can provide the best view to the customers by staying at the heart of
Melbourne. Moreover, Chen and Chen (2014) stated that the infrastructure of the restaurant is
quite attractive to the customers. Furthermore, the customers can also feel the natural beauty of
Melbourne through visiting Attica. Therefore, the beauty of Attica has also enhanced the
satisfaction level of the customers.
5.1.3 Quality of Foods
The quality of foods of Attica Restaurant is the most significant attraction of the
customers. The restaurant provides multiple courses of delicious foods in the dinner. Each dishes
of the restaurant are having delicious flavor. Furthermore, Cao and Kim (2015) opined that all the
chefs are having extensive knowledge regarding international cuisine, beverage and wine.
Therefore, the food quality of the restaurant is up to the satisfaction level of both domestic as
well as foreign customers. The restaurant also provides hygienic quality foods to the customers,
which are quite healthy for the customers. Therefore, most of the health conscious people
frequently visit the restaurant for having hygienic quality of foods. On the other hand, Mee,

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Ariffin and Rahman (2014) stated that the customers of Attica can also gain exceptional experience
through extremely delicious food items.
5.1.4 Excellence of Services
Attica is quite capable of providing excellence services to the customers. Moreover, in
Attica, the customers get interrupted services in the restaurant services. The customers can
access easy access to each department of the restaurant, which can provide them high level of
satisfaction.
5.2 Determinants of Dissatisfaction
5.2.1 Unable to Provide Service in Time
The staffs of Attica have lack of ability in providing timely services to the customers.
Moreover, the customers often have to wait long for getting a table in the restaurant. On the other
hand, Wu and Mohi (2015) opined that customers sometimes even have to wait long sitting at the
table and wait to get delivery of the ordered foods. Therefore, such delay in services often makes
the customers embarrassed, which in turn becomes the determinant of customer dissatisfaction.
5.2.2 Lack of Friendly Approach of Staffs
Attica is quite capable of providing exceptional quality restaurant services to the
customers. However, Song and Noone (2017) opined that some of the staffs have lack of friendly
approach with the customers. Therefore, the customers sometimes feel unfriendly restaurant
environment during their visit. In this way, lack of friendly approach of the staffs ultimately
becomes the determinants of customer dissatisfaction in this restaurant.
5.2.3 Lack of Specialty in Dishes
The restaurant has wide variety of food items and the foods are also high delicious to the
customers. However, the restaurant has lack of specialty in its dishes. Therefore, the customers
cannot get exceptional experience through availing special kind of dishes.
6.0 Service Quality Measurement
Attica Restaurant is quite capable of providing good quality services and food to the
customers. However, the staffs of the restaurant are not much capable behaving in friendly
manner with the customer and they often get delayed in providing time services to the customers.

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6.1 SERVQUAL Model
As per SERVQUAL model, the service of Attica Restaurant will be measured in terms of the
following factors:
Reliability Attica is quite capable of providing promising restaurant services to the
customers dependably and accurately. However, the quality of restaurant
services is not up to the satisfaction level of the customers.
Empathy The staffs of Attica are quite caring for the needs and preferences of the
customers. Moreover, the restaurant has customized approach towards
satisfying the customers. However, the staffs have lack of capability
towards providing individualized attention to the customers.
Tangible The equipments and appearance to physical facilities seems to be quite
adequate in the restaurant. Furthermore, the restaurant is more likely to
communicate with the customers through online channels for getting their
feedback over the services.
Assurance High level of knowledge and courtesy among the staffs of Attica often
convey trust among its customers. It also gains the confidence level of the
customers on the restaurant services.
Responsiveness The management of Attica is highly willing to provide prompt services to
the customers. However, the restaurant staffs are incapable of providing
timely and prompt services to the customers.
Table 1: Service quality Metrics
(Source: Kuppelwieser et al. 2016)
6.2 Quality Gaps
Gap 1: Management Perception Gap It defines the difference between the management perception
about customer expectation and actual customer expectation. In
case of Attica, the management has perception that customers
only want low price of the foods, but actually the customers
want variety in the foods with authentic quality.
Gap 2: Quality specification gap It is the gap between the management perception about the
customer expectation and actual service quality
specification that are required to the customers. The
management of Attica has realized the staffs need to have
pleasant behavior with providing good quality foods.
Gap 3: Service delivery gap It is the mismatch between service delivery specification
required by the management and actual service provided
to the customers. In case of Attica, the order placed by one
customer often gets confused with other customers.
Gap 4: Market communication
gap
It is the gap between the actual service delivered to the
customers and the promised services to the customers. In
case of Attica, the organization promise that it can provide
unique quality foods, but actually there is lack of specialty
in the food quality.

7SERVICE MARKETING AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
Gap 5: Perceived Service quality
gap
It is the difference between the expected service and
perceived service experience of the customers. The
indifferent behavior of the restaurant staff cab creates such
gap in Attica.
Table 2: Quality Gaps in Attica
(Source: Kevoe-Feldman 2015)
Figure 2: Gap Model
(Source: Chen and Chen 2014)
7.0 Service-recovery strategy plan in critical incidents
7.1 Specialty in Service Quality
Attica has quality in their food items, which is good sign towards satisfying their
customers. However, the restaurant has lack of specialty in their food items, which often makes
the customers disappointed. In such situation, the restaurant should include some specialty in
their food items for binging uniqueness in their service quality. Apart from that, the staffs should
timely deliver the food items to the customers towards enhancing the customer satisfaction.
7.2 Warm Behavior of Restaurant Staffs
The customers of Attica are often offended with the indifferent behavior of the staffs.
Therefore, the restaurant should provide adequate training to the staffs for developing the
behavioral skills of the staffs. Moreover, the staffs should provide individual attention to the
customers for enhancing their satisfaction.

8SERVICE MARKETING AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
7.3 Customized Quality in Foods
The restaurant should perfectly assess the needs and preferences of the customers. Such
assessment will facilitate the restaurant in providing services as per the needs and preferences of
the customers. Moreover, customized services will help in meeting the specific needs and
preferences of the customers, which will enhance the satisfaction level of the customers and
enhance their level of loyalty level.
8.0 Conclusion
While concluding the study, it can be said that there is well integration between the front
stage functions and back stage functions of Attica. The receptionist of the restaurant is high
talented and provide warm welcome to the customers for making them feel easy within the
restaurant. Om the other hand, back stage functions have also huge contribution in the
satisfaction level of the customer. Moreover, the highly talented chefs make authentic and
delicious foods for the customers, which is the ultimate reason for customer satisfaction. Wide
variety of food items frames the moment of truth for the restaurant. However, the restaurant has
lack of specialty in their restaurant services. Furthermore, the staffs are also incapable of
providing friendly services to the customers. Therefore, the restaurant should provide adequate
training to the staffs for developing their behaviour skills. Furthermore, the restaurant should
also incorporate specialty in their services towards enhancing customer satisfaction.

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Reference List
Attica.com.au. 2017. Attica Restaurant | Ripponlea, Melbourne, Australia | [phone].
[online] Available at: http://attica.com.au/#!home [Accessed 14 Sep. 2017].
Bradley, G.L., Sparks, B.A., Zapf, D., McColl‐Kennedy, J.R. and Jimmieson, N.L., 2013. Task‐
relationship‐self: A framework for understanding service encounter behaviors. Psychology &
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Bujisic, M., Hutchinson, J. and Parsa, H.G., 2014. The effects of restaurant quality attributes on
customer behavioral intentions. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
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Cao, Y. and Kim, K., 2015. How do customers perceive service quality in differently structured
fast food restaurants?. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 24(1), pp.99-117.
Chen, W.J. and Chen, M.L., 2014. Factors affecting the hotel's service quality: relationship
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Giesbrecht, T., Schwabe, G. and Schenk, B., 2017. Service encounter thinklets: how to empower
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Jayasimha, K.R. and Srivastava, H.S., 2017. Consumer advocacy: Examining the feeling and
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Karami, M., Maleki, M.M. and Dubinsky, A.J., 2016. Cultural values and consumers’
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services. Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 8(8), pp.47-53.

10SERVICE MARKETING AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
Soderlund, M. and Soderlund, M., 2017. Poor and rich customers in the service
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Söderlund, M., 2017. Employee display of burnout in the service encounter and its impact on
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