從溝通觀點探討顧客員工融洽關係之建立過程

Abstract

顧客員工融洽關係乃是顧客關係管理的重要一環，然而現有的文獻對於員工如何透過不同的溝通模式在服務場域中與顧客建立融洽關係仍有待進一步的釐清與探討。有鑑於此，本研究試圖填補此研究缺口，發展一實證模型，探討員工的非口語溝通(員工情感表達與行為模仿)與口語溝通(社交性與功能性溝通)，如何影響顧客正向情緒與顧客員工融洽關係，進而影響服務結果(知覺價值、顧客滿意與忠誠度)。此外，本研究亦探討商店氣氛在顧客員工融洽關係建立過程中所扮演的角色。 本研究同時採用觀察法與現場顧客問卷填答，總樣本數包含303筆顧客員工配對資料， LISREL分析結果顯示，員工非口語溝通與員工口語溝通能夠提升顧客正向情緒，促使顧客員工融洽關係的建立，進而達到良好的服務結果(知覺價值、顧客滿意度與忠誠度)，而顧客正向情緒與員工融洽關係為整體模型的重要中介因子。研究結果亦顯示商店氣氛在顧客員工融洽關係建立過程中扮演著重要的干擾角色。

Rapport between service employees and customers has been suggested to be an important determinant of customer relationship management, yet existing marketing literature still lacks a sufficient understanding of how service employee communication affects customer-employee rapport development in service encounters. This study attempts to fill this research gap by proposing and testing a model that explores how service employees’ nonverbal communication (employee affective delivery and behavioral mimicry) and verbal communication (employee social communication and functional communication) influence customer positive emotions and rapport, which in turn affect perceived value, customer satisfaction, and loyalty intentions. In addition, we explore the moderating role of store atmosphere in the process of customer-employee rapport development as well as the mediating role of customer positive emotions and customer-employee rapport between employee communication and service outcomes while controlling gender match and relationship duration. Using an observational methodology in conjunction with customer survey, dyadic survey data collected from 303 customer-employee pairs in the apparel retailing industry was examined through structural equation modeling (SEM) and regression analysis. Results show that employee nonverbal and verbal communication positively influences customer positive emotions and customer-employee rapport, which affects customer perceived value, customer satisfaction, and loyalty intentions. In addition, store atmosphere plays an important moderating role in the process of rapport development, while customer positive emotions and customer-employee rapport mediate the relationships between employee communication and service outcomes. The findings of this research offer a number of important implications for service managers. To achieve better service outcomes, service firms should train and motivate employees to use nonverbal and verbal communication to develop and strengthen customer-employee rapport. Firms should also allocate their resources to create a more favorable store atmosphere for customers. More importantly, an overall emphasis on the importance of customer positive emotions and customer-employee rapport in the service process is needed to achieve good service outcomes.