When and how frontline service employee authenticity influences purchase intentions
Matthews, A. Lynn Eilert, Meike Carlson, Les A. Gentry, James W.
Matthews, A. Lynn
Eilert, Meike
Carlson, Les A.
Gentry, James W.
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Issue Date
2020-06
Type
Article
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Keywords
Authenticity,Branding,Frontline service employee,Marketing,Services
Subjects (LCSH)
Citation
Matthews, A. Lynn; Eilert, Meike; Carlson, Les A.; Gentry, James W. 2020. When and how frontline service employee authenticity influences purchase intentions. Journal of Business Research, vol. 114:pp 111-123
Abstract
In this manuscript, we investigate the central role of perceived frontline service employee (FSE) authenticity and the process by which it impacts purchase intentions, taking into account the represented brand's authenticity. While brand authenticity has previously been shown to enhance consumer outcomes, we find that FSE authenticity is a separate significant predictor of purchase intentions. Further, we find that FSE authenticity enhances purchase intentions by increasing perceived trust and perceived quality. However, this finding only holds for brands that do not emphasize their authenticity, indicating that brand managers should differentially emphasize FSE authenticity based on their brand's positioning. Furthermore, we investigate the robustness of these effects across both experience and credence services, and find that FSE authenticity is especially important in credence service contexts.
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Publisher
Elsevier
Journal
Book Title
Series
Journal of Business Research;v.114
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DOI
ISSN
0148-2963