Abstract:
Interactions between customers and service personnel are ubiquitous. The consumption of a service involves the interaction of the consumers and the service providers and this interaction is considered as the heart of most service experiences. During this whole production process of service, the consumer became an integral part of the service process. The experience of the consumer is considered as an important determinant of his/her satisfaction with the service. The personal interaction between the consumers and the service provider is known as “service encounter” and it has become popular in recent service quality and service satisfaction research. The service encounter has five elements in it which is termed as blue printing, servicescapes, servuction, Dramaturgical approaches and the customer experience. These elements influence consumers’ satisfaction level with the service. These elements pertain to both the service outcome and the way in which the service provider deliver service to consumer. The interaction factor between the consumer and the service provider address how the consumer expects to participate in the service process and evaluate their experience. The purpose of this article is to identify the impact of these elements on service experience and how service satisfaction is developed during the service encounter.
Sometimes service provider is unable to perform services properly, which is termed as service failure. After the failure, the dissatisfied customer engages in complaints. The complaint from the customer is actually a chance given to the service providers to correct its mistake and satisfy its angry and dissatisfied customers. The service provider response towards the service failure exhibits the consumer’s future purchase with the company. If the customers are not satisfied with the recovery procedure, probability of customers switch over increases and the chances of bad word of mouth communication increase. This research identified some mechanism to minimize failure incidents and increase the probability of service satisfaction in the customers.
