The Effects of Physical and Social Context on Evaluations of Captive, Intensive Service Relationships

Abstract

Expanding a conceptual framework, we differentiated services on the basis of their levels of captivity (the difficulty of a customer's leaving) and intensity (the number of services performed), arguing that context is especially critical to service delivery when these levels are high. Data from cruise ships generally supported our hypotheses. We report effects of physical and social context on evaluations made by passengers, industry experts, and government regulators. Implications for managers of other service settings are discussed.