Title: Alleviating the negative waiting experience through the moderating role of service environment: an empirical study

Authors: Erlinda N. Yunus; Sumartoyo

Addresses: Department of Operations Management, PPM Institute of Management, Jl. Menteng Raya 9, Jakarta 10340, Indonesia. ' Department of Operations Management, PPM Institute of Management, Jl. Menteng Raya 9, Jakarta 10340, Indonesia

Abstract: This study aims to examine the influence of waiting time on customer satisfaction and further investigates the moderating role of perceived service environment in alleviating the negative impact of waiting duration on customer satisfaction. A total of 200 customers of an international-chain coffee shop in Indonesia became the respondents. The results confirm the negative impact of perceived waiting time on customer satisfaction. Another measure of waiting time, that is, disconfirmation between perceived waiting time and expected waiting time, is found to not significantly influence customer satisfaction. Additionally, the findings also reveal that perceived service environment, through favourable ambience, design, and employees, significantly reduces the negative impact of waiting duration on customer satisfaction. Implications for research and practices are discussed.

Keywords: services; perceived waiting times; disconfirmation; customer satisfaction; perceived service environment; hierarchical regression analysis; Indonesia; international shop chains; coffee shops; ambience; design; employees.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2012.048829

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2012 Vol.13 No.2, pp.189 - 207

Published online: 23 Aug 2014 *

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