UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIATING EFFECTS OF CUSTOMER PARTICIPATION AND ROLE STRESS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CUSTOMER ORIENTATION AND CHOP BAR PERFORMANCE
Abstract
Purpose of the Study: This study investigates the mediating roles of customer role stress and customer participation in the relationship between customer orientation and chop bar performance in Ghana.
Design/Methodology/Approach: A quantitative approach was employed utilizing both stratified and simple random sampling techniques to collect data from 383 chop bar owners and 384 customers (767 respondents) across six cosmopolitan regional capitals in Ghana (Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Koforidua, Cape Coast, and Tamale). Structured questionnaires were administered in chop bars focusing on customer participation in service co-development. Data analysis incorporated descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multivariable regression model estimations using ordinary least squares (OLS), with the process macro procedure in SPSS software employed to investigate mediation roles.
Findings: The results reveal that customer orientation positively impacts chop bar performance (β = .123, p < 0.05), both directly and indirectly. Interestingly, customer role stress acts as an enabler that facilitates the positive and significant mediating effect of customer participation on performance (indirect effect: β = .177, p < 0.05). Contrary to conventional expectations, customer role stress positively relates to customer participation (β = .335, p < 0.05), suggesting that when effectively managed through customer orientation, stress can motivate greater customer involvement in service co-creation, ultimately enhancing chop bar performance.
Conclusion: The study concludes that effective customer orientation can reduce stress and improve firm performance by enabling customers to participate in service co-creation without experiencing undue stress.
Recommendations: Chop bars should prioritize addressing customer role stress by providing customers with necessary knowledge and tools for participation in service processes.
Keywords: Customer Participation, Role Stress, Customer Orientation, Chop Bar, Performance
References
Abba, M., Yahaya, L., & Suleiman, N. (2018). Explored and critique of contingency theory for management accounting research. Journal of Accounting and Financial Management, 4(5).
Ahn, J. (2024). The effect of customer participation on customer satisfaction in retailing: Focusing on mediating effects of relational value and salesperson loyalty. Journal of Channel and Retailing, 29(1), 65-84. https://doi.org/10.17657/jcr.2024.1.31.4
Alfers, L., & Abban, R. (2011). Occupational health & safety for indigenous caterers in Accra, Ghana. Wiego.
Alves, H., Fernandes, C., & Raposo, M. (2016). Value co-creation: Concept and contexts of application and study. Journal of Business Research, 69(5), 1626-1633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.10.029
Andoh, T. (2014). The wonderful Ghanaian chop bar experience | Have you tried it.
Asokan, A., Sharma, P., Kingshott, R. P., Maurya, U. K., & Kaur, A. (2019). Customer participation and service outcomes: Mediating role of task-related affective well-being. Journal of Services Marketing, 33(1), 16-30. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-10-2018-0288
Auh, S., Menguc, B., Katsikeas, C. S., & Jung, Y. S. (2019). When does customer participation matter? An empirical investigation of the role of customer role stress in the customer participation–performance link. Journal of Marketing Research, 56(6), 1012-1033.
Babakus, E., & Yavas, U. (2010). Service worker burnout and turnover intentions: Roles of person-job fit, servant leadership, and customer orientation. Services Marketing Quarterly, 32(1), 17-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332969.2011.533091
Basaaking, S. (2016). Assessing food hygiene and hygiene practices of food handlers in traditional restaurants (Chop Bars) a case study of Wa Municipality [Doctoral dissertation, University of Education, Winneba].
Blinda, K., Schnittka, O., Sattler, H., & Gräve, J. F. (2019). Implementing effective customer participation for hedonic and utilitarian services. Journal of Services Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-07-2018-0196
Blut, M., Heirati, N., & Schoefer, K. (2020). The dark side of customer participation: When customer participation in service co-development leads to role stress. Journal of Service Research, 23(2), 156-173. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670519894643
Burns, T., & Stalker, G. M. (1961). Mechanistic and organic systems. In Classics of organizational theory (pp. 209-214).
Bussy, N. D., & Suprawan, L. (2012). Most valuable stakeholders: The impact of employee orientation on corporate financial performance. Public Relations Review, 38(2), 280-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.11.006
Chan, K. W., & Wan, E. W. (2012). How can stressed employees deliver better customer service? The underlying self-regulation depletion mechanism. Journal of Marketing, 76(1), 119-137. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.10.0202
Chan, K. W., Yim, C. K., & Lam, S. S. (2010). Is customer participation in value creation a double-edged sword? Evidence from professional financial services across cultures. Journal of Marketing, 74(3), 48-64. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.74.3.048
Chang, W., & Taylor, S. A. (2016). The effectiveness of customer participation in new product development: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marketing, 80(1), 47-64. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.14.0057
Chen, Y. C., Li, P. C., & Arnold, T. J. (2016). How to effectively manage the dark side and bright side of customer participation in salesperson job-related outcomes. In Let's get engaged! Crossing the threshold of marketing's engagement era: Proceedings of the 2014 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 179-179). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11815-4_57
Chowdhury, I. N., Gruber, T., & Zolkiewski, J. (2016). Every cloud has a silver lining - Exploring the dark side of value co-creation in B2B service networks. Industrial Marketing Management, 55, 97-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.02.016
Donaldson, L. (2001). The contingency theory of organizations. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452229249
Dong, B., Sivakumar, K., & Evans, K. R. (2017). Customer participation in services: Domain, scope, and boundaries. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45, 944-965. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-017-0524-y
Gebauer, J., Füller, J., & Pezzei, R. (2013). The dark and the bright side of co-creation: Triggers of member behavior in online innovation communities. Journal of Business Research, 66(9), 1516-1527.
Greenley, G. E., Hooley, G. J., & Rudd, J. M. (2004). Strategic planning differences among different multiple stakeholder orientation profiles. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 12(3), 163-182.
Guerra, J. M., Martínez, I., Munduate, L., & Medina, F. J. (2020). A contingency perspective on the study of the consequences of conflict types: The role of organizational culture. In Conflict in organizations: Beyond effectiveness and performance (pp. 157-176). Psychology Press.
Guthier, C., Dormann, C., & Voelkle, M. C. (2020). Reciprocal effects between job stressors and burnout: A continuous time meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 146(12), 1146.
Haumann, T., Güntürkün, P., Schons, L. M., & Wieseke, J. (2015). Engaging customers in coproduction processes: How value-enhancing and intensity-reducing communication strategies mitigate the negative effects of coproduction intensity. Journal of Marketing, 79(6), 17-33.
Hu, T., Kettinger, W. J., & Poston, R. S. (2017). The joint effect of network-based I/S capabilities and user participation on I/S performance: A mediation analysis. Information & Management, 54(1), 126-140.
Jiang, Y., Xu, L., Cui, N., Zhang, H., & Yang, Z. (2019). How does customer participation in service influence customer satisfaction? The mediating effects of role stressors. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 37(3), 691-710.
Jibril, A. B., & Adzovie, D. E. (2024). Understanding the moderating role of E-WoM and traditional media advertisement toward fast-food joint selection: A uses and gratifications theory. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 27(1), 1-25.
Kelley, S. W., Donnelly Jr., J. H., & Skinner, S. J. (1990). Customer participation in service production and delivery. Journal of Retailing, 66(3), 315.
Kiiru, D. K., & Ngatia, E. M. (2022). Influence of customer orientation in performance of small and medium enterprises in animal feed manufacturing in Kenya.
Kiroh, P. N., Lapian, S. J., & Tielung, M. V. (2023). The influence of role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload on employee cyberloafing behavior at PT. United Tractors, Tbk Manado Branch. Jurnal Emba: Jurnal Riset Ekonomi, Manajemen, Bisnis Dan Akuntansi, 11(4), 1575-1586.
Kwabena, S. A., Brew, Y., & Addae-Boateng, S. (2013). Service quality among selected 'Chop Bar' (Local Restaurants) operators in Koforidua, Eastern Region, Ghana. Significance, 5(19).
Lawrence, P. R., & Lorsch, J. W. (1967). Differentiation and integration in complex organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1-47.
Leung, X. Y., Wang, X., Levitt, J. A., & Lu, L. (2022). Cocreating food experience "delivered" from iconic local restaurants. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34(8), 3065-3083.
Li, S., & Li, C. (2021). What makes customer participation a double-edged sword: The impact and factors of self-serving bias in agritourism. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 21, 100571. Looking through the body of the article, here are the references that are actually cited in the text, formatted in APA style:
Maletič, M., Maletič, D., & Gomišček, B. (2018). The role of contingency factors on the relationship between sustainability practices and organizational performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 171, 423-433.
Mende, M., Scott, M. L., Bitner, M. J., & Ostrom, A. L. (2017). Activating consumers for better service coproduction outcomes through eustress: The interplay of firm-assigned workload, service literacy, and organizational support. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 36(1), 137-155.
Menguc, B., Auh, S., Katsikeas, C. S., & Jung, Y. S. (2016). When does (mis)fit in customer orientation matter for frontline employees' job satisfaction and performance? Journal of Marketing, 80(1), 65-83.
Murad, N. Y. M., & Zaidy, M. M. Q. (2022). Entrepreneurial orientation is an introduction to raising customer value: An exploratory study of the opinions of a sample of managers of some productive food organizations in the city of Mosul. AL-Anbar University Journal of Economic and Administration Sciences, 14(3).
Mursid, A., & Wu, C. H. J. (2022). Customer participation, value co-creation and customer loyalty: Evidence from Umrah travel agencies in Indonesia. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 13(3), 628-648.
Neneh, B. N. (2018). Customer orientation and SME performance: The role of networking ties. African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, 9(2), 178-196.
Otley, D. (2016). The contingency theory of management accounting and control: 1980-2014. Management Accounting Research, 31, 45-62.
Palacios-Marques, D., Guijarro, M., & Carrilero, A. (2016). The use of customer-centric philosophy in hotels to improve customer loyalty. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(3), 339-348.
Pandya, J., Kalse, A., Sinha, M., Priyadarshini, P., Durgude, U., & Yadav, R. (2022). The study of emotional intelligence and job performance in the pharmaceutical sector with respect to the Mumbai region. Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results, 2384-2398.
Pennings, J. M. (1975). The relevance of the structural-contingency model for organizational effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 393-410.
Ramaswamy, V., & Gouillart, F. (2010). Building the co-creative enterprise. Harvard Business Review, 88(10), 100-109.
Sato, C., & Tufuor, T. (2020). Migrant women's labor: Sustaining livelihoods through diverse economic practices in Accra, Ghana. The Handbook of Diverse Economies (pp. 186-93).
Templer, K. J., Kennedy, J. C., & Phang, R. (2020). Customer orientation: The interactive effect of role clarity and learning goal orientation. Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, 27(3), 303-314.
Turkulainen, V. (2022). Contingency theory and the information processing view. Handbook of Theories for Purchasing Supply Chain and Management Research (pp. 248).
Uzkurt, C. (2010). Customer participation in the service process: A model and research propositions. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 6(1), 17-37.
Victer, R. S. (2020). Connectivity knowledge and the degree of structural formalization: A contribution to a contingency theory of organizational capability. Journal of Organization Design, 9(1), 7.
Vidal, G. G., Campdesuñer, R. P., Rodríguez, A. S., & Vivar, R. M. (2017). Contingency theory to study leadership styles of small businesses owner-managers at Santo Domingo, Ecuador. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 9, 1847979017743172.
Wolgast, A., & Fischer, N. (2017). You are not alone: Colleague support and goal-oriented cooperation as resources to reduce teachers' stress. Social Psychology of Education, 20, 97-114.
Wu, L. W. (2017). The bright side and dark side of co-production: A dyadic analysis. Management Decision, 55(3), 614-631.
Yakonadi, V., & Shrestha, P. (2020). The influence of affective commitment, job satisfaction and job stress on turnover intention: A study of Nepalese bank employees. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 9, 88-98.
Yoon, S., Kim, G., Chung, Y., & Son, H. (2022). Is customer involvement always beneficial for R&D efficiency? The difference between high‐tech and low‐tech industries. Managerial and Decision Economics.
Yuk, H., & Garrett, T. C. (2023). Does customer participation moderate the effects of innovation on cost-based financial performance? An examination of different forms of customer participation. Journal of Business Research, 156, 113479.
Zang, Z., Liu, D., Zheng, Y., & Chen, C. (2020). How do the combinations of sales control systems influence sales performance? The mediating roles of distinct customer-oriented behaviors. Industrial Marketing Management, 84, 287-297.
Zhang, H., Kang, F., & Hu, S. Q. (2020). Senior leadership, customer orientation, and service firm performance: The mediator role of process management. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 31(13-14), 1605-1620.
Zhang, Y., & Yu, H. H. (2024). The impact of social capital on the creation of customer participation value in virtual brand communities. Nurture, 18(2), 404-417.
Zheng, Y., Zang, Z., Grisaffe, D. B., Miao, F., & Wang, X. (2023). Going beyond fit (misfit): Enhancing sales performance based on salespeople's self-construal. Industrial Marketing Management, 115, 339-354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2023.10.012
Zuhroh, D. (2019). Contingent fit-misfit and business unit performance: A review based on the perspective of the congruity hypothesis. AFRE Accounting and Financial Review, 2(1), 50-64. https://doi.org/10.26905/afr.v2i1.3170
