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Unit 9: The Service Encounter

Notes
Figure 9.1: Service Encounter

Though a complete listing of articles is beyond the scope of this paper, the work of Daniel
Khaneman and his colleagues provided the initial source of our research. In Chase and Dasu we
presented some initial applications, and in the process of developing these ideas for a book, the
following categories were determined to be useful enough, extensive enough, and cohesive
enough to stand as separate chapters:
Understanding emotions

Sequence effects
Duration effects
Shaping attributions

9.2.1 Understanding Emotions

Emotions are both an input and an output of an encounter. Creating a good experience requires
understanding what triggers different types of positive and negative emotions. This allows
managers at an aggregate level to develop an emotional platform and at a tactical or process
level to identify stages of the systems that are likely to engender strong emotions and to
proactively manage them. A useful way of classifying emotional responses is through appraisal
theory which specifies the conditions that result in different emotions as a result of change from
a neutral emotional state. According to this theory, the type of emotion (positive or negative)
we experience depends on whether the outcome:

improves our situation or makes it worse,
is associated with a penalty or a reward,
is certain or just a possibility,

is a significant/powerful event that is difficult to cope with or it’s not a very significant
event and we can easily cope with the change, and
is caused by the individual or an outside agency

9.2.2 Sequence Effects

Most service experiences consist of a series of events that occur over time. Lay tendency is to
focus on a strong start and assume things will take care of themselves as the service encounter
unfolds. At the other extreme we have service folklore that maintains every minute is significant.
We now know that neither belief is accurate. According to numerous studies, people focus on
the peak event, the ending event, and the trend of a sequence. The implications of this for design
are profound: in the way we present information, for example, in a call center (get the bad news
out of the way first) to the way we conduct a class (end on a high note, or “stick the dismount”).

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