Linking the customer contact model to service quality
基于Kellogg和Chase的顾客接触度量，提出一个概念模型，将沟通时间和亲密性这两个接触维度与服务质量联系起来，并在酒店环境中通过实证研究支持了理想接触水平的存在。
Abstract One of the defining characteristics of services is the existence of some form of contact between the customer and the service firm during the service production process. In the 1980s, customer contact (CC) became an important dimension in virtually all service taxonomies. Its importance to perceived service quality (SQ) was also recognized, but the direct linkage between CC and SQ was difficult to determine without an operational definition of CC. In 1995, Kellogg and Chase addressed this issue and developed an empirically derived operational measure of contact. In this paper, we employ the Kellogg/Chase measures as the basis for a conceptual model linking the CC dimensions of communication time and intimacy with SQ. We assert that ‘desirable’ levels of these contact dimensions do exist and present hypotheses as to the nature of their relationship. We report results from an empirical study undertaken in a hotel environment which support the existence of such desirable contact levels. Managerial implications and future research are also discussed.