IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orserv/v12y2020i1p26-42.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Discovering Call Interaction Fluency: A Way to Improve Experiences with Call Centres

Author

Listed:
  • Estela Fernández-Sabiote

    (Faculty of Business and Law, School of Management, and Department of Marketing, Enterprise, and Tourism, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, United Kingdom)

  • Inés López-López

    (School of Business and Economics, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain)

Abstract

Previous studies have often neglected the influence of call centre employee communication competencies on customer response, and this is the first study to integrate the concept of fluency into the call centre service experience. This study investigates the role of call interaction fluency in customer-employee interactions through call centres. Specifically, we conceptualise and develop a scale to measure call interaction fluency (study 1) and propose a model (study 2) in which fluency is linked to the customer’s emotional response (anger), an evaluation of the interaction (interaction satisfaction), and the customer-company relationship (call aversion, trust, and satisfaction with the company). We also introduce the role of the coping strategy used by customers depending on their initial emotional state (study 3). The results provide an easy-to-administer scale to measure call interaction fluency, and both direct and indirect effects are shown in a holistic model. Agent’s nationality and gender and customer’s age moderated the effect of call interaction fluency on interaction satisfaction; fluent interaction proved to be efficacious for both emotion-focused and problem-focused customers. Our results reveal that fluency should be considered when designing training programmes for call centre employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Estela Fernández-Sabiote & Inés López-López, 2020. "Discovering Call Interaction Fluency: A Way to Improve Experiences with Call Centres," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 26-42, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orserv:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:26-42
    DOI: 10.1287/serv.2019.0251
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2019.0251
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/serv.2019.0251?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laros, Fleur J.M. & Steenkamp, Jan-Benedict E.M., 2005. "Emotions in consumer behavior: a hierarchical approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(10), pages 1437-1445, October.
    2. Athanassios N. Avramidis & Alexandre Deslauriers & Pierre L'Ecuyer, 2004. "Modeling Daily Arrivals to a Telephone Call Center," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(7), pages 896-908, July.
    3. Luce, Mary Frances & Kahn, Barbara E, 1999. "Avoidance or Vigilance? The Psychology of False-Positive Test Results," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 26(3), pages 242-259, December.
    4. Swan, John E. & Bowers, Michael R. & Richardson, Lynne D., 1999. "Customer Trust in the Salesperson: An Integrative Review and Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Literature," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 93-107, February.
    5. Nidhi Agrawal & Echo Wen Wan, 2009. "Regulating Risk or Risking Regulation? Construal Levels and Depletion Effects in the Processing of Health Messages," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(3), pages 448-462.
    6. Che-Jen Su & Nicolas Lorgnier & Jin-Hsing Yang & Seung Oh, 2015. "How does the interview change the importance of résumé information in acceptance decisions? An experimental study in the hotel industry," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 9(4), pages 711-732, December.
    7. Neeraj Bharadwaj & Anne Roggeveen, 2008. "The impact of offshored and outsourced call service centers on customer appraisals," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 13-23, March.
    8. Harold Cassab & Douglas L. MacLachlan, 2006. "Interaction fluency: a customer performance measure of multichannel service," International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 55(7), pages 555-568, October.
    9. DaHee Han & Adam Duhachek & Nidhi Agrawal, 2016. "Coping and Construal Level Matching Drives Health Message Effectiveness viaResponse Efficacy or Self-Efficacy Enhancement," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(3), pages 429-447.
    10. Darke, Peter R. & Brady, Michael K. & Benedicktus, Ray L. & Wilson, Andrew E., 2016. "Feeling Close From Afar: The Role of Psychological Distance in Offsetting Distrust in Unfamiliar Online Retailers," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 287-299.
    11. Folkes, Valerie S & Koletsky, Susan & Graham, John L, 1987. "A Field Study of Causal Inferences and Consumer Reaction: The View from the Airport," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(4), pages 534-539, March.
    12. Zaichkowsky, Judith Lynne, 1985. "Measuring the Involvement Construct," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 12(3), pages 341-352, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tibert Verhagen & Daniel Bloemers, 2018. "Exploring the cognitive and affective bases of online purchase intentions: a hierarchical test across product types," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 537-561, September.
    2. Hsieh, Jung-Kuei & Hsieh, Yi-Ching & Chiu, Hung-Chang & Yang, Ya-Ru, 2014. "Customer Response to Web Site Atmospherics: Task-relevant Cues, Situational Involvement and PAD," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 225-236.
    3. Herter, Márcia Maurer & Borges, Adilson & Pinto, Diego Costa, 2021. "Which emotions make you healthier? The effects of sadness, embarrassment, and construal level on healthy behaviors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 147-158.
    4. Ciuchita, Robert & Mahr, Dominik & Odekerken-Schröder, Gaby, 2019. "“Deal with it”: How coping with e-service innovation affects the customer experience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 130-141.
    5. Casaló, Luis V. & Flavián, Carlos & Ibáñez-Sánchez, Sergio, 2021. "Be creative, my friend! Engaging users on Instagram by promoting positive emotions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 416-425.
    6. Ying Ding & Hean Tat Keh, 2017. "Consumer reliance on intangible versus tangible attributes in service evaluation: the role of construal level," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(6), pages 848-865, November.
    7. Romani, Simona & Grappi, Silvia & Dalli, Daniele, 2012. "Emotions that drive consumers away from brands: Measuring negative emotions toward brands and their behavioral effects," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 55-67.
    8. repec:jtr:journl:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:28-64 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Zeinab Rezvani & Johan Jansson & Maria Bengtsson, 2018. "Consumer motivations for sustainable consumption: The interaction of gain, normative and hedonic motivations on electric vehicle adoption," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1272-1283, December.
    10. Baumann, Chris & Hamin, Hamin & Chong, Amy, 2015. "The role of brand exposure and experience on brand recall—Product durables vis-à -vis FMCG," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 21-31.
    11. Inwon Kang & Deokhee Cheon & Matthew Shin, 2011. "Advertising strategy for outbound travel services," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 5(4), pages 361-380, December.
    12. Peng Cheng & Zhe Ouyang & Yang Liu, 0. "The effect of information overload on the intention of consumers to adopt electric vehicles," Transportation, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    13. Malin Jonell & Beatrice Crona & Kelsey Brown & Patrik Rönnbäck & Max Troell, 2016. "Eco-Labeled Seafood: Determinants for (Blue) Green Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-19, September.
    14. Merja Halme & Kari Linden & Kimmo Kääriä, 2009. "Patients’ Preferences for Generic and Branded Over-the-Counter Medicines," The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Springer;International Academy of Health Preference Research, vol. 2(4), pages 243-255, December.
    15. Haase, Janina & Wiedmann, Klaus-Peter & Labenz, Franziska, 2022. "Brand hate, rage, anger & co.: Exploring the relevance and characteristics of negative consumer emotions toward brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1-16.
    16. Mahan, Joseph E. & Seo, Won Jae & Jordan, Jeremy S. & Funk, Daniel, 2015. "Exploring the impact of social networking sites on running involvement, running behavior, and social life satisfaction," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 182-192.
    17. Barrow, Devon & Kourentzes, Nikolaos, 2018. "The impact of special days in call arrivals forecasting: A neural network approach to modelling special days," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(3), pages 967-977.
    18. Garaus, Marion & Wagner, Udo, 2016. "Retail shopper confusion: Conceptualization, scale development, and consequences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3459-3467.
    19. O'Cass, A., 2000. "An assessment of consumers product, purchase decision, advertising and consumption involvement in fashion clothing," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 545-576, October.
    20. Eunae Jung & Hyungun Sung, 2017. "The Influence of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Outbreak on Online and Offline Markets for Retail Sales," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-23, March.
    21. Rouba Ibrahim & Pierre L'Ecuyer, 2013. "Forecasting Call Center Arrivals: Fixed-Effects, Mixed-Effects, and Bivariate Models," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 15(1), pages 72-85, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orserv:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:26-42. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.