THE SOURCES OF CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS AND THE

CUSTOMER LEVEL OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE SERVICE

PROVIDER
Gelu TRIȘCĂ2

ABSTRACT
Customer expectations are an important determinant of how interactions with service
providers are evaluated. Marketers must know the relevant sources of expectations for each
target segment and the relative importance of each source. The results of the studies that
previously have investigated the importance of the sources of customer expectations are
conflicting.
Through a questionnaire-based survey conducted among visitors of a sample of hotel
units we have investigated the link between the importance of customer expectations sources
and the level of customer familiarity with the supplier.
The statistical analysis shows that the importance of the influence of the sources on
which expectations are formed varies significantly among novice and experienced customers.
For novice customers the strongest influence is exerted by personal factors. For both categories
of experienced customers considered, the most important sources are previous direct experience
with the supplier and the normative character of hotel classification category.
Research also shows that word-of-mouth from relatives, friends and acquaintances are
more important to experienced customers than novice customers. Although paradoxical, this
result proves that the need for choice confirmation and belonging are central to the hotel guests
psychological space.

KEY WORDS: customer expectations, sources of expectations, novices customers,

experienced customers.

JEL: M31

1. INTRODUCTION

Expectations have been recognized in marketing literature as an important

determinant of customer behavior (Boulding et al. (1993), Parasuramn, Berry and
Zeithaml (1991), Oliver (1980), Olson and Dover (1979)). In services, understanding
customer expectations and sources of these expectations is considered by Calvert (2001)
as critical for managing customer perceptions of service quality and delivery.
Depending on the perspective from which they were studied, customer
expectations have been defined as a comparison standard for comparing the post-
purchase experience (Oliver (1980), Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Bery (1991)), beliefs
about the brand (Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), Olson and Dover (1979), Wilkie and
Pessemier (1973)), beliefs about products and services prior testing (Boulding et al.
(1993), Woodruff, Cadote and Jenkins (1983)), subjective desires (Brown and Swartz,
(1989), Parasuraman at al. (1985)), objectives predictions (Oliver (1981), Olson and
Dover (1979), mental categories used by customers to evaluate service performance

2
Teaching assistant, Faculty of Economics, University "Eftimie Murgu" of Reșița, Romania, e-mail:
gelutrisca@yahoo.com

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(Higgs and Ringer (2005)) or perceived contingency between any two events
(Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml (1991)).
Customer expectations have been thoroughly analyzed in the marketing
literature on service quality and customer satisfaction. Although these researches have
recognized the importance of customer expectations a consensus on the sources
expectations was not reached. Therefore it is necessary to identify and understand the
key factors influencing the customer expectations. The sources influence on
expectations should be measured in relation to the client's level of familiarity with the
supplier as Carman (1990) and Boulding et al. (1993) shows that expectations are
dynamic in nature and are constantly revised as experience is gained.
In this paper we have investigate the relationship between the influence of the
expectations sources and the level of customer familiarity with the supplier. The sources
of customer expectations have been identified through a systematic review of the
literature and empirical testing of these influences was done by a questionnaire-based
survey conducted among customers of hotel services. We have operated with three
types of customers: novice customers (customers who have not previously interacted
with the supplier), experienced customers 1 (customers who previously visited the hotel
once) and experienced customers 2 who visited the hotel twice or more times. This
approach allowed us to analyze the influence variations of each source in relation to
these three levels of familiarity. The research confirms that the influence of expectations
sources varies in relation with the customers levels of familiarity with suppliers.
Influence of certain sources is more stable over time, while others influences vary
greatly.

2. SOURCES OF EXPECTATIONS

The systematic review of the literature shows that customer expectations are
based on a variety of factors. These factors can be aggregated according to the two
categories of expectations identified by Shaw and Ivens, (2002): Expectations 1 and
Expectations 2. Expectations 1 include expectations which are based on previous
experiences, word of mouth, the customer perceived role in the service, customers
needs, firm controlled communications, price, brand and classification category of the
hotel. Expectation 2 is an update of expectations 1 and include first impressions formed
at the point of sale based on functional, mechanical and human cues.
Customer previous experience
In marketing literature, customer previous experience is a key determinant of
customer expectations (Bolton and Drew (1991), Boulding et al., (1993); Van Doorn
and Verhoef, (2008)). It is considered that expectations are are more realistic based on
the knowledge gained. Service will be compared not only with previous services offered
by the same provider or by its competitors, but also with other services sectors
(Woodruff, Cadott and Jenkins, (1987)). Previous experience incorporates both past
experience with the present supplier and typical performance of the favorite brand,
brand experience with last purchased or top brand and similar average performance of a
group of brands (Dean (2002), Boulding et al.(1993)). The stock of experiences own by
an individual is far from being homogeneous (Shu-pei Tsai, 2005). Due to past
experience diverse individuals will respond differently to the same service defined
objectively.
Word of mouth
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 The importance of word of mouth in shaping expectations about the service is
well documented (Donnelly (2009), Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry (1985)). These
personal and sometimes non-personal statements made by entities other than the
company will be telling to the customers how the service will be (what can be
expected). As a source of information about service performance, word of mouth has
more weight because it is perceived as unbiased (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman
(1993)). Relationship between experience and its expression is however problematic. It
is impossible to fully know the experience of someone else. In the context of tourism
especially word of mouth can induce false expectations due to the subjective perception
of the experience, even if the objective performance of the service is the same (Bruner,
(1986)).
Customer's self-perceived role during the service
When the experience is critically dependent on customer participation,
expectations are shaped in part by how well the customer thinks that he will act
(Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1993)). The customer tolerance of the appropriate
level of experience expands when he feels he does not fulfill its role that. On the other
hand, when customers believe that they are doing their part in performing the service,
their expectations regarding the appropriate level of experience increases.
Personal needs
Personal needs can be divided into several sub-categories that include the
physical, social, psychological, etc. needs. From the perspective of tourists, tourism is a
response to felt needs and values acquired in temporal parameters, spatial, social and
economic (Gnoth (1997)). Once the needs and/or values are activated and applied to a
tourism scenario, motivations generated is a major parameter in expectations formation.
Company controlled communication
Company controlled communication contains personal and non-personal
statements relating to the service, made by the company to customers. These promises
takes many forms: advertising, personal selling, contracts, etc. All have a direct impact
on both the adequate and the desired service. Marketing effort (company controlled
communication) can help create reasonable expectations about the service before the
service is experienced by the individual (Calvert (2001)). Ha and Hoch (1989) suggests
that advertising affects how customers interpret objective and ambiguous evidence
about the service quality. If the available evidence regarding quality are more
ambiguous, the greater and more dramatic effects of advertising are.
Price
Services are heterogeneous in that service performance can vary depending on
the supplier, the employees of the same supplier or even in relation to the same
employee of the the same supplier. The extent to which customers recognize and are
willing to accept heterogeneity is called zone of tollerance (Zeithaml, Berry and
Parasuraman (1993)). The zone of tolerance which represents the difference between
desired service and adequate service may increase or decrease. In other words, customer
expectations are characterized by a multitude of levels (between desired and adequate
service) and not a single level.
Expectations are not necessarily increasing if the price increase but the level of
tolerance is decreasing (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1993)). Some clients have a
higher zone of tolerance other smaller, requiring a higher level of service. The
fluctuation of customers zone of tolerance is rather a function of adequate service level
(which changes constantly fluctuating due to contextual circumstances) than a function
288
of changes in the desired level of service (which tends to increase incremental due to the
accumulation of experience). Desired service is relatively idiosyncratic and stable. Price
is an indicator of the quality of pivotal role in situations where other information are not
available (Olander (1970), Zeithaml (1981)).
The brand
Verhoef et al. (2009) argue that the brand message is an important determinant
in shaping customer expectations. Shaw and Ivens (2002) believes that brand is a
perception and a promise: "what the client feels or thinks about company: an opinion, a
point of view, an expectation." According to these authors, the customer experience
must fulfill the expectations induced by the brand, otherwise the experience will be
poor. If the brand is portrayed by advertising in a different way than it is provided to the
customer, the company failed in its promotional efforts. This undermines the customers
beliefs and expectations regarding the company. Brand is leading customer experience
and is evaluated intuitively across all moments of contact.
The classification category of the hotel
In the context of hotel services the classification category of the provider acts as
an implicit promises. This implicit promise has an normative meaning and provides
indications of service quality. Classification category suggests how the service should
and will be (Dean (2002)).
First impressions about experiential clues
The work of Pine and Gilmore (1998), Berry, Wall and Carbone (2006), Haeckel
et al. (2003) and research related to service quality (Gronroos, 1988; Lehtinen and
Lehtinen, 1982, Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1988) provides support for including
experiential cues into the sources of customer expectations. Customers form their
perceptions based on the technical performance of the service (functional clues) tangible
items associated to the service (mechanical indicators) and behavior and looks of
service provider (human clues).
Functional, mechanical and human clues fulfill specific roles in forming
expectations about service experience, influencing both cognitive and emotional
perceptions of the customer (Berry, Wall, and Carbone (2006)). During interactions
with the service provider, customer filters conscious and unconscious experiential clues
and organizes them into a set of impressions, some prominently cognitive other strongly
emotional. Functional clues primarily influence cognitive perceptions of service quality.
Human cues sent by employees offer a chance to exceed customer expectations, to
strengthen their faith and deepen their loyalty (Donnelly (2009)). Exceeding customer
expectations requires an element of pleasant surprise and the best opportunity to
surprise the customers is when customer interact with the supplier (Berry et al. (1994)).
Excellent mechanical cues can rarely compensate for weak human clues.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

To meet the research objectives we have conducted a questionnaire based survey

among visitors of 12 hotel units. Hotel services were chosen because they are complex
and balanced in terms of experiential and functional (McIntosh and Siggs (2005)). In the
same time, this type of service has the potential to generate strong emotional and
experiential reactions from customers (Dimanche and Samdahl (1994)).
Selection of hotels was conducted by a logic, non-probabilistic sampling. In
order to obtain consistent and comparable results four sampling criteria were used: (1)
289
type of tourism, (2) classification category, (3) size and (4) hotel location. The choosen
hotels also depended on the willingness of managers to participate. There were
considered four types of tourism: urban, mountain, beach and spa. These tourism
activities are varied enough to cover and describe a comprehensive range of travel
experiences. They differ from one another in terms of length of stay and experience
dimensions on which customers are focused on. These differences enable comparative
analysis of the importance of expectations sources in different contexts.

Table 1
The scale used to measure the sources of expectations

Construct The sources of expectations Code

Expectations 1 Previous visits to the hotel SA1
The experiences lived in similar hotels SA2
Verbal recommendations from relatives, friends and/or SA3
acquaintances who have visited the hotel
Recommendations and comments posted on the Internet by other SA4
travelers
The feeling that the experience about to live depended largely on SA5
the customer
Different needs, desires and personal motivations SA6
The images posted on the Web page of the hotel SA7
The information posted on the Web page of the hotel SA8
The prices of services booked before travel SA9
The prices that customer know that are practiced in that hotel SA10
The brand of the hotel SA11
Classification category of the hotel SA12
Messages and images promoting the hotel (in magazines, SA13
newspapers, leaflets, brochures, radio and TV commercials,
Internet, etc.).
Expectations 2 The first impression about the hotel (formed when customer arrived SA14
at the hotel) regarding the comfort, cleanless, personal safety and
the services quality
The first impression about the hotel (formed when customer arrived SA15
at the hotel) regarding the visual attractiveness of the hotel and the
aesthetic dimensions of the experience
The first impression about the hotel (made when customer arrived SA16
at the hotel) regarding the courtesy/responsiveness of the employees

Based on response rates recorded in previous research investigating the

experience of tourists in hotels (Donnelly, 2009) the number of questionnaires required
to be administered was established at 2250. After collecting the questionnaires, the
number of usable questionnaires was 362. The number of respondents and their
distribution comply to the minimum requirements established through the research
design.
The research instrument used was the questionnaire. Nominal scales were used
to measure explanatory variables: socio-demographic and those related to the decision
and travel behavior. To measure the influence of expectation sources a proportional
scale in 7 steps was used (-3/Strongly negative influence, -2/Negative influence; -
1/Slightly negative influence; 0/No influence at all; 1/Slightly positive influence;
2/Positive influence; 3/Strongly positive influence; and to "n"/I don’t know/ I can’t

290
answer). The scale used to measure the sources of expectations consisted of 16 items
coded from SA1 to SA16 (Table 1).
Data collection was done in two stages. First, during the month of September
2011 were distributed 600 questionnaires in three hotels from the coastal resorts
Mamaia, Eforie Nord and Eforie Sud (Black Sea). In the second stage, during the
months of March - April 2012 1650 questionnaires were distributed among other hotel
units of the sample. Questionnaires were handed out to tourists by hotel reception
workers.
Visitors were asked to return completed questionnaires on the day of departure.
In late April 2012 were collected by the researcher all questionnaires (both completed
and blank ones) from all hotel units of the panel. After their initial analysis it was found
that out of the 385 questionnaires, 362 are usable. The average response rate of the
overall sample was 16.08%. Response rates achieved for different types of tourism are
comparable. All recorded response rates are slightly higher than the response rate
obtained by Donnelly (2009) (10,54%), which investigated the experience of customers
in urban hotels.
Data analysis and interpretation
Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences).
The analysis of average meanings on overall sample shows that customer
expectations are most strongly influenced by personal factors (feeling that the
experience depends largely on you: µ = 5.63; certain needs, desires and personal
reasons: µ = 5.63).
Experience clues outside firm control (verbal recommendations from relatives/
friends/acquaintances and recommendations and other comments posted on the Internet
visitors) occupy an intermediate position in terms of influence (ie µ = 5.39 µ = 5.39 ).
Some experience clues controlled by the company (hotel category classification,
information posted on the website of the hotel, the prices of services reserved before
visiting) influence more strongly customer expectations than verbal recommendations.
Advertisements in newspapers / magazines / brochures / radio / TV / Internet customer
expectations have the lowest influence (µ = 5.26). Low influence of previous visits hotel
is irrelevant on the overall sample due to the large number of novice customers.
The hierarchy of expectation sources in relation with the customer previous
experience has been developed by establishing contingencies between the average
frequency of independent variable Q2 "previous experience" (which includes three
categories: novice customer/I have never visited the hotel before; experienced customers
1/I have previously visited the hotel once and experienced customers 2/I have
previously visited the hotel for several times) and the means frequency of the dependent
variables "expected sources" SA1-SA16. In doing so we obtained single-wide statistics
for the dependent variables in relation to the independent variable (Table 2).
The average significance analysis shows that the importance of the influence of
sources on which expectations 1 are formed (expectations formed prior to contact with
the service provider - Shaw and Ivens (2002)) varies significantly among the three
categories of customers.

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 Table 2
The influence of expectations sources in relation with the previous experience of the customer

Code Sources of expectations Novice customers Experienced Experienced

customers 1 customers 2
Mean Neg SD Mean Neg SD Mean Neg SD
Expectation 1
SA1 Previous visits to the hotel - - - 5,77 ,01 ,837 6,00 ,01 ,848
SA2 The experiences lived in 5,18 ,13 1,279 5,27 ,08 1,182 5,40 ,04 ,993
similar hotels
SA3 Verbal recommendations 5,21 ,04 1,223 5,62 ,01 1,100 5,63 ,00 1,067
from people who have
visited the hotel
SA4 Recommendations and 5,34 ,05 1,207 5,38 ,04 1,093 5,54 ,00 1,144
comments posted on the
Internet by other travelers
SA5 The feeling that the 5,61 ,03 1,095 5,61 ,00 ,881 5,73 ,03 1,019
experience about to live
depended largely on the
customer
SA6 Different needs, desires 5,60 ,02 1,023 5,53 ,01 ,991 5,84 ,00 ,963
and personal motivations
SA7 The images posted on the 5,56 ,04 1,175 5,53 ,00 1,003 5,50 ,00 1,080
Web page of the hotel
SA8 The information posted on 5,50 ,08 1,283 5,50 ,01 1,046 5,49 ,00 1,054
the Web page of the hotel
SA9 The prices of services 5,44 ,07 1,214 5,52 ,01 1,056 5,51 ,00 ,914
booked before travel
SA10 The prices that customer 5,15 ,11 1,259 5,36 ,09 1,245 5,52 ,01 ,886
know that are practiced in
that hotel
SA11 The brand of the hotel 5,12 ,03 1,117 5,44 ,01 1,142 5,49 ,00 ,948
SA12 Classification category of 5,48 ,03 1,157 5,66 ,00 ,987 5,88 ,00 ,893
the hotel
SA13 Messages and images 5,15 ,03 1,152 5,47 ,01 1,034 5,36 ,00 1,055
promoting the hotel
Expectation 2
SA14 The first impression 5,82 ,16 1,436 6,23 ,01 ,767 6,30 ,00 ,744
regarding the comfort,
cleanless, personal safety
and the services quality
SA15 The first impression 5,78 ,13 1,377 5,97 ,02 ,974 6,15 ,01 ,888
regarding the visual
attractiveness of the hotel
and the aesthetic
dimensions of the
experience
SA16 The first impression 5,82 ,13 1,382 6,05 ,01 ,887 6,20 ,00 ,827
regarding the
courtesy/responsiveness of
the employees

How the sources of expectation 1 are ranking for each customer category is
shown in Table 2. It is noted that for novice customers the strongest influence is exerted
by personal factors belonging to the customers (the feeling that the experience depends
292
largely on the customer itself: µ = 5.61 and personal needs, wishes and desires: µ =
5.60). For both experienced customers categories the most important sources are prior
direct experience with the supplier - "previous visits to the hotel" (experienced
customers 1: µ = 5.77; experienced customers 2: µ = 6.00) and the normative nature of
hotel category classification (experienced customers 1: µ = 5.66; experienced customers
2: µ = 5.88). Analysis of the standard deviation (SD) shows that the influence of these
two sources does not vary greatly among customers.
Personal factors also exert significant influence on experienced customers
(feeling that the experience depends largely on the customer itself: C_exp. 1 µ = 5.61,
C_exp.2 µ = 5.73 and personal needs, wishes and desires: C_exp . 1 µ = 5.53, C_exp.2 µ
= 5.84). The influence of these two sources does not vary greatly among the two
categories of customers.
Clues controlled by the supplier (images posted on the website of the hotel,
information posted on the website of the hotel, prices of reserved services before the
visit) occupies third place in importance for novices customers (µ = 5.56, µ = 5.50
respectively µ = 5.44) and experienced customers 1 (µ = 5.53, µ = 5.50 µ = 5.52
respectively). For experienced customers 2 these clues occupy a lower position (price
rank 3: µ = 5.51, and the information and pictures on the hotel website rank 4: µ = 5.49
respectively µ = 5.50). Paradoxically, verbal recommendations from relatives/friends/
acquaintances are more important to experienced customers 1 (µ = 5.62) and
experienced customers 2 (µ = 5.63) than novices customers (µ = 5.21).
The other clues controlled by the supplier (advertisements in newspapers/
magazines/brochures/radio/TV/Internet; hotel brand) and experiences lived in similar
hotels exert weak influences for all customers categories.
The analysis of the averages significance show that expectations are heavily
updated by all customers categories based on the first impressions formed during the
contact with the provider. First impressions regarding the visual appeal and aesthetic
dimensions of the experience influences the expectation updating process the least. The
first impression on comfort, safety and quality of service influence the updating process
the hardest. Standard deviation analysis shows that the influence of sources on which
expectations are updated vary more among novices customers than for experienced
customers.
The strongest negative influence exerted among all customers categories is the
lived experiences in similar hotels (µ neg. = 0.10) and prices charged by the hotel (µ
neg. = 0.9).
From table 2 it follows that negative influences for experienced customers 2 are
much lower than for novices and experienced customer 1. Sources on which
expectations are updated and exercise the strongest negative influence are the first
impression on comfort, safety and quality (µ neg. = 5.26).

3. CONCLUSIONS

Customer expectations are most strongly influenced by personal factors. Firms

should identify experiential segmentation criteria that will allow on the one hand a deep
understanding of customers' personal motivations and desires and on the other hand to
group customers according to these factors.
Some experience clues controlled by the company (hotel classification category,
information posted on the website of the hotel, prices of the services reserved before
293
visit) have a stronger influence on customer expectations than verbal recommendations
(word of mouth). Managers must use this power of influence by adapting experiential
clues to experiential environment characteristics and experiential profile of target
customers.
Experiential clues provided to hotel guests by the company must be adapted to
the experiential profile of the target customer. These clues will have to highlight the
level of customer empowerment offered by the hotel, to create excitement about the
surprises that guests will experience and emphasize aspects of how customers will relate
with the employees. Experiential clues will have to relate to the safety, comfort and
functional aspects of the experience. Relatively low importance given to these clues in
expectations formation phase can be explained by the fact that the expected level of
these aspects of the experience is rather associated by default to the classification
category and to the hotel brand. Exceeding expectations in relation to these issues,
however will not induce surprise but not meeting the expectations can significantly alter
how experience is perceived and evaluated.
Advertisements in newspapers/magazines/brochures/radio/TV/Internet have the
lowest impact on customer expectations. Managers should use these channels of
communication for other purpose than to influence customer expectations (e.g. to
improve notoriety).
The strongest negative influence exerted among all categories of customers is
the lived experiences in similar hotels and prices charged by the hotel. Managers must
consider experiential environments created and managed by competitors in the same
sector as minimum standards that must be met and overcome.

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