International Journal of Service Industry Management
Generating positive word-of-mouth communication through customer-employee
relationships
Dwayne D. Gremler Kevin P. Gwinner Stephen W. Brown

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Dwayne D. Gremler Kevin P. Gwinner Stephen W. Brown, (2001),"Generating positive word-of-mouth
communication through customer-employee relationships", International Journal of Service Industry
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IJSIM
12,1

44
Received March 2000
Revised November 2000
Accepted January 2001

Generating positive
word-of-mouth communication
through customer-employee
relationships
Dwayne D. Gremler


College of Business Administration, Bowling Green State University,
Bowling Green, Ohio, USA

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Kevin P. Gwinner

College of Business Administration, Kansas State University,
Manhattan, Kansas, USA, and

Stephen W. Brown

College of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Keywords Marketing communications, Relationship marketing, Services marketing,
Customer care, Customer satisfaction
Abstract In this study, we hypothesize and empirically test the proposition that interpersonal
bonds, or relationships between employees and customers, can significantly influence positive
word-of-mouth (WOM) communication. Such influence may be especially true for many services,
particularly in situations where a relationship has developed between the customer and individual
service providers. In this study we look at four dimensions of interpersonal bonds: trust, care,
rapport, and familiarity. We contend that as a customer's trust increases in a specific employee
(or employees), positive WOM communication about the organization is more likely to increase
and such trust is a consequence of three other interpersonal relationship dimensions: a personal
connection between employees and customers, care displayed by employees, and employee
familiarity with customers. These propositions are investigated using data collected from bank
customers and dental patients, and we find empirical support for all but one of our hypotheses. A
key finding is that the presence of interpersonal relationships between employees and customers is
significantly correlated with customer WOM behavior. We conclude with a discussion of how
interpersonal relationships between customers and employees might be fostered in order to

increase the likelihood of customer WOM behavior.

International Journal of Service
Industry Management,
Vol. 12 No. 1, 2001, pp. 44-59.
# MCB University Press, 0956-4233

Introduction
Word-of-mouth (WOM) communication, ``informal communications directed at
other consumers about the ownership, usage, or characteristics of particular
goods and services and/or their sellers'' (Westbrook, 1987, p. 261), has recently
received renewed attention in the marketing literature (Anderson, 1998; Gilly et
al. 1998; Money et al., 1998). Positive WOM communication has been
recognized as a particularly valuable vehicle for promoting a firm's products
and services. Indeed, given its non-commercial nature, WOM communication is
viewed with less skepticism than firm-initiated promotional efforts (Herr et al.,
1991). Although WOM communication can be very influential in any purchase
decision, previous research suggests it is particularly important for services


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(Ettenson and Turner, 1997; Heskett et al., 1997; Murray, 1991) and that a single
recommendation ± the only source of information obtained ± is often sufficient
to convince a person to try a particular service provider (Gremler, 1994; Price
and Feick, 1984; Reingen, 1987).
Even with the renewed interest in WOM communication, antecedents to
WOM have received little attention (Anderson, 1998). Regrettably, the limited
discussions in the literature of how firms can encourage positive WOM
behavior have tended to concentrate on reward dispensing strategies or

assumed that satisfying customers will naturally lead to these behaviors. As
such, the opportunity for employee-customer relational bonds to influence
customer WOM behavior has been ignored.
Before examining the constructs relevant to the study, a brief example is
offered from Harley-Davidson to illustrate the impact of interpersonal bonds on
WOM communication. Much of the success of Harley-Davidson can be
attributed to positive WOM communication emanating from customeremployee relationships. Despite the corporation's impressive track record of
growth and profitability, relatively little is budgeted for traditional marketing
expenditures. Instead, Harley pursues a genuine relationship marketing
approach focused on its dealers and their employees. Through its customer
clubs, known as the Harley Ownership Groups or HOGS, over one-half million
customers frequent the dealerships for weekly meetings, special events, vehicle
service, and the purchase of clothing and accessories. Dealer employees are
overtly encouraged by management and corporate leaders to ``get to know
these customers personally, demonstrate attention and care, and become their
friends'' (van der Sande, 2000). The bonding between employees and customers
has been so successful in spreading positive WOM communication that Harley
has no need for substantial expenditures on advertising and promotions.
In this study, we hypothesize and empirically test the proposition that
interpersonal relationships between employees and customers can significantly
influence positive WOM communication. For many services, an important
component of the offering is the interpersonal interaction between employees
and customers (Czepiel and Gilmore, 1987; Surprenant and Solomon, 1987) or
what Gremler and Brown (1996) refer to as ``interpersonal bonds.'' Scholars
have suggested that customers who are members of a firm's ``social network''
(Reingen and Kernan, 1986) or are in situations where ``relationship closeness''
exists (Colgate and Danaher, 1999) are more likely to engage in WOM behavior.
One key dimension of the employee-customer relationship is interpersonal
trust, or ``confidence in an employee's reliability and integrity'' (adapted from
Morgan and Hunt, 1994). We contend that as a customer's trust increases in a

specific employee (or employees), positive WOM communication about the
organization is more likely to increase. In our proposed model, we argue that
such trust is a consequence of three other interpersonal relationship
dimensions: familiarity between employees and customers, a personal
connection between employees and customers (Gremler and Gwinner, 2000),
and care displayed by employees (Dubinsky, 1994; Lewis, 1991; Surprenant and

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Solomon, 1987). That is, a customer's trust in a specific employee is likely to
form if the employee and customer are well known to each other, a personal
connection is present in the relationship, and the employee has demonstrated
genuine care and concern for the customer's well-being. Finally, we contend
that both personal connection and care are consequences of employee
familiarity of customers (Rafaeli, 1989; Zeithaml, 1981). A better understanding
of the conditions that facilitate positive WOM communication, such as the
relationships proposed above, can provide managers with insight as to how to
best stimulate such behavior.
Delineating employee-customer relationships

If one accepts a broad definition of a relationship, whereby all interactions between
people over an extended period of time constitute relationships (Hinde, 1979), then
a great number of interactions between customers and employees could be
considered ``relationships.'' We do not believe that all interactions constitute
relationships. Rather, in the same sense that a relationship between friends, or a
husband and wife, involves some deeper meaning beyond frequency of interaction,
our notion of an employee-customer relationship goes beyond repeated encounters.
That is not to say that repeated encounters with the same service provider do not
help to foster relationships between employees and customers. They do. It is just
that a history of multiple interactions do not make a relationship. In order to
contextualize the notion of employee-customer relationships, the remainder of this
section discusses two different perspectives for understanding and classifying
relationships between employees and customers.
Formal versus personal relationships
In order to be more precise, it is useful to think about the distinction between
formal and personal relationships (Hinde, 1979; McCall, 1970). ``Formal''
relationships are those where the behavior between individuals is primarily
based upon the roles individuals occupy in the encounter. Examples of
interactions where one's role will play a large part include interactions between:
teacher and student, doctor and patient, waiter and customer. Indeed, researchers
have studied how our expectations of such encounters, codified in the form of
scripts, influence our behavior and our expectations of the other party (Schank
and Abelson, 1977; Hubbert et al., 1995). In contrast, the behaviors exhibited in
``personal'' relationships are guided more on the knowledge each party has of the
other as an individual. Although the positions each party occupies in society
(that is, their roles) are likely to influence behavior in personal relationships, it is
the individual knowledge aspect that primarily influences behavior. We will use
the term ``interpersonal relationship'' to describe the latter types of interactions
between customers and employees in this paper.
Communal relationships

Aside from the factors of role and knowledge that can shape relationship
interaction, we can also think of relationships in terms of motives. Clark and


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Mills (1979) have distinguished between communal and exchange
relationships. They have theorized that exchange relationships are those where
``benefits'' are given by one party with the expectation of receiving comparable
benefits. Thus, in exchange relationships the receipt of a benefit creates a debt
or obligation for the receiver. In contrast, in communal relationships ``benefits
are given in response to the other's needs or simply to please the other'' (Mills
and Clark, 1994, p. 29). As such, behavior in communal relationships is driven
out of concern for the welfare of the other individual, rather than motivated by
what benefit one might receive in return. However, this is not to say that
participants in communal relationships are unselfish, only that there is not an
indebtedness aspect to their behavior. Indeed, the underlying motivation may
be to satisfy a personal need to be a ``good citizen'' or to make one feel good
about themselves.
To further illustrate, consider an exchange relationship example in a service
encounter context. A counter employee at the local dry cleaner may take extra
care to remove a particularly stubborn stain from a customer's shirt with the
expectation that the firm will be rewarded with prompt payment and future
business. However, the motivation may change if a communal relationship is
present in the above example. If the relationship is of the communal type, then
the motivation for taking extra care to remove the spot is not tied to the benefits
likely to be received, but rather is motivated out of concern for the welfare of
the other individual. Of course, these constructs are not mutually exclusive.
Indeed, according to Mills and Clark (1994, p. 31), ``it is possible to have both a
communal relationship and an exchange relationship with the same other

person.''
Goodwin (1996) argues that communal relationships between employees and
customers in service transactions alter the nature of the transaction by
changing the manner in which each party responds to the other. We extend this
assertion by suggesting that ``interpersonal'' relationships (consisting of
knowledge driven and communally motivated interactions) will have a positive
differential impact on a consumer's tendency to offer positive comments to
others regarding the firm.
With the preceding as a framework for thinking about employee-customer
relationships, in the next section we introduce a model examining four
constructs prominently discussed in the literature as being components of
relationships. Our discussion focuses on how these constructs interact with
each other and how they may impact WOM communication between
consumers.
Relational constructs influencing WOM communication
The hypothesized relationships of the relational constructs influencing WOM
communications are illustrated in Figure 1. Each of the constructs and
associated hypotheses are discussed in the following subsections, organized
from left to right as depicted in the model.

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Familiarity
We define familiarity as the customer's perception that the employee has
personal recognition of the customer and knows specific details about his/her
service needs. Familiarity is driven by the frequency of the interaction and the
depth of the interaction. Naturally, when interacting with someone on a weekly
basis (for example, a waitress at a favorite restaurant) the amount of ``personal''
knowledge gained about that individual will be greater than when interactions
occur every three months (for example, the technician at an auto service center).
Frequency of interaction with the same service provider has been identified by
many researchers as one aspect that can be used for delineating types of
relationships (Gutek et al., 1999; Hinde, 1979; Kelley et al., 1983).
We propose that in order for a customer to perceive that he or she is cared for
or to sense the existence of a personal connection with a service provider, some
employee knowledge of the customer must exist. In a service provision context,
this knowledge can be developed through repeated encounters, which results in
employees becoming familiar with a customer and his/her specific service
needs. This information can come from explicit verbal information provided by
the customer and from an employee's observation of customer behavior during
the encounters. In support of our contention, communication researchers have
correlated the growth in knowledge about partners with the development of
intimate relationships (Crockett and Freidman, 1980; Duck, 1977). This lends
support for a familiarity to caring link. (Figure 1 depicts the hypothesized
relationships.)
H1: Familiarity positively influences perceptions of care.
Like its influence on perceptions of care, familiarity can be regarded as a
necessary, but not sufficient, condition for the development of a personal
connection with a service provider. In order for personal connection bonds to

develop between customers and employees, knowledge of the other participant
in the service exchange and sharing of details of one's own experiences (that is,
self-disclosure) are necessary. According to Miller and Berg (1984, p. 173) ``the
closer the relationship to the other and the longer we have known the other, the

Figure 1.
Relational constructs
influencing word-ofmouth communication


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more likely it is that we will have detailed and extensive knowledge of that
other's desires, needs, and preferences''. To the extent that this knowledge
results in a ``connection'' between the participants then a bond may be formed.
Oakes et al. (1995) found that as members of a 26-day outward bound course
gained increasing familiarity with other group members their perceptions of
group homogeneity were increased. When there are higher levels of
homogeneity the chances of two individuals finding some common ground or
connection are greater. Thus, familiarity should have a positive influence on
the development of a personal connection.
H2: Familiarity positively influences the development of a personal
connection.
Familiarity also appears to play a role in the development of trust. In a
consumer context, Garbarino and Johnson (1999) empirically demonstrate that,
among ``strong relationship'' customers, there is a positive relationship between
a consumer's familiarity with performers in a theatrical context and the
consumer's level of trust with the organization. As such, we posit a positive
relationship between familiarity and trust in the employee.
H3: Familiarity positively influences perceptions of trust in the employee.

Care
We define care as the customer's perception of the employee having genuine
concern for the customer's well being. The level of care exhibited in a
customer-employee context may be partially explained by the tenets of equity
theory. Gouldner (1960) states that in interpersonal interactions individuals
tend to help those that have helped them. A general norm of reciprocity may
exist in service relationships where an employee exhibits concern for a
customer because they feel indebted to them for their business. Of course,
there may be insincere displays of caring in business transactions, but our
discussion focuses on those that are derived in relational exchanges and are
genuine.
The degree to which caring leads to trust is likely to be based upon the
motivation ascribed to the employee for the caring behaviors. Miller and Berg
(1984) identify three classes of giving behavior that are useful for examining
the motivations directing caring behavior in a service exchange. Obligatory
behaviors are those that are normative in nature and, thus, expected in certain
contexts. For example, we expect service employees to be polite. Instrumental
behaviors are motivated by goal achievement. In the current discussion, caring
behavior exhibited only to get a customer to purchase more would represent
instrumental behavior. Finally, hedonic behaviors are those motivated by the
giver's desire to make others feel good. Caring behaviors that are ascribed
hedonic motivations are likely to result in greater levels of trust being formed.
H4: Caring behaviors positively influence perceptions of trust in the
employee.

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Personal connection
We define a personal connection as a strong sense of affiliation or bond based
on some tie. We often hear in everyday language phrases like ``I really
connected with him'' or ``we really clicked''. Despite the adage that ``opposites
attract,'' connections are often based upon having some common attribute (such
as personality or attitudes) or interests (e.g. growing up in the same
neighborhood, being avid hikers) with another party (Duck, 1994). Research in
the attraction literature has argued that information communicated during
initial encounters is used by the individuals (for example, potential friends) to
assess the level of similarity between their personalities. Individuals perceiving
a high level of similarity are more likely to form relationships (Duck, 1976).
Indeed, Coulter and Coulter (2000) found that as perceived similarity between
customers and service employees increased, customer trust also increased.
In a similar vein, Price et al. (1995) discuss a relational factor they call
``authentic understanding'' which describes relational elements well beyond
traditional customer-contact employee roles. Authentic understanding is
developed when ``service provider and client engage in self-revelation, expend
emotional energy, and connect as individuals'' (Price et al., 1995, p. 92).
Although their construct is developed in the context of extended, affectively
charged, intimate service encounters, it is possible for connections among
customers and employees to occur in briefer transactions that are repetitive in
nature (for example, weekly Harley-Davidson HOGS meetings) (Czepiel, 1990).

Indeed, it is not unheard of for customers and employees to develop strong
friendships out of such encounters (Goodwin, 1996; Goodwin and Gremler,
1996).
H5: A personal connection positively influences perceptions of trust in the
employee.
Trust
Trust can be conceptualized as existing between individuals (interpersonal
trust), between organizations (organizational trust), or between individuals and
organizations (inter- or intra- organizational trust) (Ganesan and Hess, 1999;
Moorman et al. 1993). The current study focuses on trust developed in a
relationship between individuals, specifically customers and contact
employees. We operationalize trust in a manner consistent with the work of
Morgan and Hunt (1994) who define trust as ``existing when one party has
confidence in an exchange partner's reliability and integrity'' (p. 23). Thus, our
construct can be considered trust in the employee, as opposed to trust in an
organization.
Empirical research examining the employee-customer interaction has found
that encounters that can be characterized as occurring under the broader
umbrella of a relationship are likely to produce customer advocacy behaviors
such as positive WOM communication (Beatty et al., 1996; Bendapudi and
Berry, 1997; Griffin, 1995). Further, the trust construct has been associated with
many pro-firm related behaviors in both empirical and conceptual research


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(Ganesan, 1994; Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Moorman et al., 1993; Morgan
and Hunt 1994). In fact, Ganesan and Hess (1999) found that interpersonal
credibility (the individual partner's ability and intention to keep promises) was
a stronger predictor of the buyer's commitment to a vendor organization than

organizational credibility (the organization's ability and intention to keep
promises). Garbarino and Johnson (1999) find trust in an organization to be
related, among relationship customers, to customers' future intentions. While
their future intention battery did not include WOM communication, saying
positive things about the organization to others is not inconsistent with the
behaviors they did measure ± attendance, subscription, and donations. We
propose that customer trust in an employee will have a direct positive influence
on the propensity to engage in positive WOM communication behaviors.
H6: Trust has a positive influence on word-of-mouth communication.
Methodology
To empirically investigate the proposed model, we use a self-report
questionnaire format with two sets of respondents, bank customers and dental
patients. The bank sample consists of 1,303 respondents randomly selected
from among the customers of one district of a large bank in the southwestern
US. In this sample, 48 per cent of the respondents are men, the average age is
48.4, and the average length of time as a customer of the bank is 13.2 years.
Additionally, 368 patients of a dental practice in a large, southwestern US
metropolitan area also participated in the study. Of these respondents, 42 per
cent are men, the average age is 47.6, and the average length of time as a patient
is 8.7 years.
Multi-item scales are used to measure each of the five constructs included in
the model discussed earlier. In particular, measures for familiarity (three items),
care (three items), and WOM communication (four items) were created for use
in this study. The five-item measure of personal connection is based on Gremler
and Gwinner's (2000) work on rapport. Finally, the trust scale (four items) is
based upon Morgan and Hunt's (1994) measure of trust. All items are sevenpoint Likert scales, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
A two-step approach was employed to analyze the data. In the first phase,
the measurement model was assessed by performing a confirmatory factor
analysis using the CALIS procedure in SAS. The measurement model statistics
that resulted are reported in Table I. The results suggest a good fit of the model

to the data in both the bank sample (TLI = 0.964; CFI = 0.971; 12 = 1213.1, df =
239)[1] and in the dental sample (TLI = 0.929; CFI = 0.939; 12 = 852.8, df = 239).
All indicator loadings are positive and significant (p < 0.01). The factor
loadings for each item of each construct are fairly high, with 0.80 being the
lowest loading of any of the items in the bank sample and 0.71 being the lowest
factor loading in the dental sample. The statistics also provide evidence of
reliability: the coefficient alphas for each scale ranged from 0.92 to 0.96 in the
bank sample and from 0.86 to 0.96 in the dental context, and the average
variance extracted values are greater than 0.70 for all but one of the measures

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Bank sample

12
df
CFI
TLI


Familiarity
Care
Personal
connection
Trust
Word-of-mouth
communication

Table I.
Measurement model
results

Overall model fit

Measurement
model statistic

Dental sample

1213.1
239
0.971
0.964

852.8
239
0.939
0.929

Number of

items in scale

Internal consistency
Composite
reliability

Coefficient
alpha

Average variance
extracted

3
3
5

0.954 / 0.921
0.956 / 0.963
0.929 / 0.936

0.950 / 0.915
0.951 / 0.958
0.927 / 0.934

0.873 / 0.796
0.879 / 0.896
0.723 / 0.746

4
4


0.947 / 0.929
0.918 / 0.854

0.946 / 0.929
0.919 / 0.855

0.816 / 0.766
0.736 / 0.594

Notes: Statistics are presented for each of the two samples, with the bank sample statistics
first (before the ``slash'') and the dental sample statistics second. The 12 statistic is
significant at the 0.01 level. CFI refers to the Comparative Fit Index of Bentler (1990). TLI
refers to the Tucker-Lewis & (Tucker and Lewis, 1973). Composite Reliability is based on the
reliability index suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981).

(for word-of-mouth communication in the dental context it is 0.594) and exceed
the 0.50 cutoff recommended by Bagozzi and Yi (1988). Overall, the
measurement model statistics suggest sufficient reliability for each set of items.
In the second phase of the analysis, the relationships between the constructs
in the structural model (displayed in Figure 1) were assessed. Table II contains
the overall goodness-of-fit indices and the standardized parameter estimates for
the hypothesized model. As shown in the table, the goodness-of-fit indices
suggest a good fit of the model to the data in both the bank sample (TLI =
0.956; CFI = 0.962; 12 = 1114.3, df = 146) and in the dental sample (TLI = 0.929;
CFI = 0.948; 12 = 514.5, df = 146). In each data set, all but one of the
standardized path coefficients in the model are positive and significant. (The
path coefficients are displayed in both Table II and in Figure 2). The only
nonsignificant path, both in the bank sample and the dental sample, is the
familiarity-trust path. Thus, there is empirical support for all of the hypotheses

specified in the model except for H3.
Of particular interest is an examination of the amount of variance explained
in each of the four endogenous variables in the model. The variance explained
(measured in terms of R2) in each of these constructs is: for trust the amount of
variance explained is 0.492 in the bank sample and 0.491 in the dental
sample[2]; for care the variance explained is 0.512/0.599; for personal


Structural model statistic

Overall model fit
Bank sample

12
df
CFI
TLI

1114.3
146
0.962
0.957

514.5
146
0.948
0.929

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Standardized path estimates and t-values
Bank sample
Dental sample
Standardized
Standardized
path estimate
t-value
path estimate
t-value

Path
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Dental sample

H1: Familiarity 3 Care
H2: Familiarity 3
Personal connection
H3: Familiarity 3 Trust
H4: Care 3 Trust
H5: Personal connection
3 Trust
H6: Trust 3 Word-ofmouth communication

0.715

43.4


0.880
0.041
0.541
0.179

32.8
0.7 (ns)
15.5
3.3

0.416

14.5

0.774

20.5

0.783
±0.041
0.457
0.363

18.3
±0.4 (ns)
6.8
5.1

0.517


9.8

Variance explained for endogenous variables
Bank sample
Dental sample
R2
R2
R2
R2

±
±
±
±

Care
Personal connection
Trust
Word-of-mouth
communication

0.512
0.775
0.493
0.173

0.599
0.613
0.491

0.267

Notes: The 12 statistics are significant at the 0.01 level. CFI refers to the Comparative Fit
Index of Bentler (1990). TLI refers to the Tucker-Lewis & (Tucker and Lewis, 1973). Except
where noted by ``ns'' (nonsignificant), t-values with an absolute value of 1.96 or greater are
significant at the 0.01 level.

Table II.
Structural model fit

Figure 2.
Structural model


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connection the variance explained is 0.775/0.612; and for WOM communication
the variance explained is 0.172/0.268. Even though the amount of variance
explained for WOM communication is, relatively speaking, not as large as it is
for the other endogenous constructs, these last two statistics provide evidence
of the importance of customer-employee relationships in encouraging WOM
communication.
These statistics are noteworthy considering that satisfaction with the
service, a construct typically thought to drive positive WOM communication, is
not included in our model. In order to further verify the importance of the

relationship oriented constructs, we also evaluated a model with customer
satisfaction with the service included. This second model has all of the
constructs and paths indicated in Figure 1, plus a customer satisfaction
construct with a direct path into WOM communication. Additionally, a path is
estimated from the trust construct to satisfaction with the service. Both of the
two new paths are significant in the expanded model: for the trust-satisfaction
path  = 0.387/0.367 (p < 0.01), and for the satisfaction-WOM path  = 0.821/
0.523 (p < 0.01). Most importantly, all of the relationships among the
relationship oriented constructs (as reported above) remain significant and in
the same direction in both the dental and bank contexts. As such, we have an
added level of confidence in being able to claim that these relationship-oriented
constructs are important predictors of WOM behavior, above and beyond the
impact of customer satisfaction.
Discussion and implications
In spite of the importance WOM communication can have in encouraging new
customers to try a good or service, businesses have generally struggled in
developing strategies to encourage WOM behavior. Many providers have
assumed that providing service that satisfies their customers is sufficient for
stimulating positive WOM communication. However, researchers have
suggested that satisfaction with the core service provided may not necessarily
generate positive WOM (Gremler and Brown, 1996; Reynolds and Beatty, 1999).
In this paper we have argued, and presented empirical support, that the
fostering of interpersonal relationships between employees and customers may
help encourage positive customer WOM behavior. Thus, encouraging
interpersonal bonds may be a strategy worth considering to increase the
likelihood of customer WOM behavior. In the remainder of the paper we
recommend some strategies a service firm might consider in order to
strengthen interpersonal bonds between employees and customers, including
four key areas: service design, support systems, employees, and customers.
Focusing on service design

One way to facilitate the development of interpersonal bonds is to design the
environment where the service takes place (the servicescape) in such a way that
opportunities for interactions (both formal and informal) between employees
and customers are plentiful. For example, some firms encourage or require their


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associates to dress in a manner that mirrors the typical attire of customers
(minimizing role status barriers) and thus invites the development of
interpersonal bonds. Other firms, such as the largest independent furniture
retailer in the US, Gallery Furniture of Houston, have created special
supervised playgrounds for children so that parents may spend more time with
Gallery's salespeople.
In addition to the environment, services marketers might consider how to
design the service delivery process to encourage employee-customer
interactions. This could include ``assigning'' an employee to a specific customer
to create ``an ongoing series of interactions'' (Reynolds and Beatty, 1999). Many
banks have operationalized this idea by assigning a ``personal banker'' to their
more affluent customers.
Focusing on support systems
Firms might consider adopting (or altering) technology in order to allow more
time for employees to interact with customers. Some customer relationship
management (CRM) software adds considerable efficiencies to customer
service. Firms deploying this software might encourage front-line employees to
use this ``extra time'' for interactions with customers.
The deployment of the software by employees may also help them readily
recall customer characteristics and use this information in relationship
building. For example, an employee of a medical office may access the software
pertinent to patients and then ask whether they would like to pick up their

prescription at the same pharmacy as used previously. Using the CRM
accessed customer characteristics in conversation may help to increase
consumers' perceptions of caring, familiarity, or personal connection, thus
helping to build interpersonal bonds in the exchange.
Data bases might also be designed and used to build a base of knowledge to
encourage the development of employee familiarity of customers. For example,
the inclusion of data base records to capture qualities customers have in
common with employees can be used to cultivate the development of customeremployee rapport (Gremler and Gwinner, 2000).
Focusing on employees
Service businesses might consider empowering employees and giving them the
freedom to develop relationships, do what is right, and correct problems. Such
efforts can often result in a customer's trust in an employee developing. The
flattening of organizations and the employees' ready access to data base
information is better enabling this empowerment.
If the organization would like to encourage relationships to develop between
customers and employees as part of a WOM strategy, then employees need to
be trained to develop interpersonal bonds. Further, employees should be
rewarded accordingly when success occurs. Database capabilities of increasing
numbers of firms can track new customers back to customer referral sources. If

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word-of-mouth
communication
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56

employee-customer bonds would also be stored in the data base, employees
stimulating this WOM behavior can be identified and rewarded.
Focusing on customers
Similarly, if the organization would like to encourage relationships to develop
between customers and employees as part of a WOM strategy, then customers
also need to be rewarded for developing interpersonal bonds with employees.
Firms might even point out to the customer the benefits of knowing a specific
person within the organization. Here again, data base capabilities may make
these customer rewarding actions possible.
As a caveat, care must be exhibited in putting too much emphasis on
developing relationships with customers ± not all customers want to develop
interpersonal relationships with their service providers (Adelman et al., 1994;
Goodwin, 1996). Yet, in some of these situations positive WOM can still be
encouraged and generated via alternative methods such as providing
customers the option of user friendly and functional self-service technologies.
Conclusion
Word-of-mouth (WOM) communication from an existing customer to a
potential customer is often the most creditable method of stimulating new
business for firms. In services settings, these referrals may be encouraged
through cultivation of interpersonal bonds between employees and customers.
This study empirically demonstrates that these relationships are indeed
significantly correlated with WOM behavior. Management implications for
strengthening these bonds are offered in the form of service design and support
systems.
Notes
1. TLI refers to the Tucker-Lewis & (Tucker amd Lewis, 1973). CFI refers to the Comparative
Fit Index of Bentler (1990). The 12 statistics are significant at the 0.01 level.

2. For the remaining statistics, those statistics from the bank sample will be presented first,
followed by a slash ``/'' and then the statistics from the dental sample.
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