Personality and Trust Fosters Service Quality
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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which cognitive and affective trust mediate the service provider personality-service quality relationship, controlling for customer personality. Design/Methodology/Approach: Hypotheses were tested using a matched sample of 249 customer-service provider dyads. Results: Service provider service orientation incrementally predicted customer cognitive trust in the service provider above and beyond customer agreeableness, which related significantly to affective and cognitive trust. Analyses further revealed that cognitive trust mediated the service provider service orientation-service quality relationship. Implications: Hiring service-oriented front-line employees may facilitate customer cognitive trust which in turn relates to service quality. In addition, training front-line employees to identify agreeable customers may facilitate the quick development of trusting relationships. Originality/Value: This is the first study to simultaneously examine the impact of both the customer and the service provider personalities on customer trust and service quality in long-term relationships. Results demonstrated the role of cognitive trust as a mediator of the relationship between service orientation and service quality. 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
