Abstract

This paper compares the effect of service experience at department stores and hypermarkets on the customer’s repatronage intentions, that is, the customer’s desire to make a repeat purchase. Service experience covers three aspects: core service, employee service, and services cape. The impact of service experience on emotional response, satisfaction with monetary value, and repatronage intentions are discussed. First, in-depth interviews with senior managers are analyzed to identify core service at department stores and hypermarkets. Second, the SEM method is used to test the hypotheses of the study. Finally, based on analysis of results, we suggest that department stores should target customer’s emotional responses; whereas hypermarkets should focus on perceived monetary value. In addition, department stores should improve the training of their employees, and the retail format should fully recognize the importance of core service.

Key words: Service experience, emotional response, monetary satisfaction, repatronage intention, perceived monetary value, servicescape, core service.