An Empirical Study On The Effects Of Service Firms' Resource Allocation On Customers' Happiness

The service industry is developing rapidly in the world. Satisfaction and loyalty of the customers are crucial to the success of any firm in the increasingly competitive service market. The service firm inputs resources and devotes to cultivate loyal customers to gain long-term profits. Theories of service marketing have already developed and spread rapidly in our country. On the other hand, study on customers' happiness, i.e. subjective well-being, has become the focus of public attention and discussion in the recent 20 years. Eudemonics is a popular science on the law governing people's pursuit of happiness and gaining happiness. It is the integration of the achievements and experience in the fields such as psychology, economics, sociology and politics, and so on.However, lots of researches on service marketing do not emphasize the need to improve customers'happiness, and eudemonics does not focus on service firms' customers, nor does it consider whether or not the service firms' 20/80 discriminatory resource inputs may affect customers' happiness and how it affects. The academic study on customers' experience of happiness is still immature. The study on customers'happiness changes caused by service firms' discriminatory resource inputs to different customers and the integrating study on customers' happiness and welfares are almost unseen. Therefore, combining the service firms' 20/80 discriminatory resource inputs, customers'happiness and customers' welfares is a meaningful attempt of innovation, tried in the diseertation research.By sorting out concerning literatures in an in-depth and cautious way, the author builds up the model of relationship among the service firms' 20/80 discriminatory resource inputs, customers'perception of service quality and service justice, and different changes of happiness of ordinary customers and of VIP customers. In that way, the dissertation verifies most hypotheses provided in the model by conducting big-scale surveys. Major conclusions are as follows:1. Because of service firms'20/80 discriminatory resource inputs, happiness of ordinary customers (80% of total customers) is on the decrease (damages), while happiness of VIP customers (20% of total) is on the increase (profits).2. The happiness changes of customers above do not result from an obvious distinction in service's types, or from customers' individual attributes (such as sex, age, achievement demand, having full-time job or not, etc.) However, the happiness changes of different-class customers have an obvious distinction because of other attributes closely connecting with customers'consumption choices (such as the customer's income per month, the general trust and identification of the service firm, etc.) 3. During the service process, the service firms'discriminatory resource input presents itself by different treatments to VIPs and to ordinary customers, and it affects customers'instant happiness and their subjective well-beings by the intermediate variable, customers'perception of service quality.4. During the service process, the service firms'discriminatory resources input presents itself by different treatments to VIPs and to ordinary customers, and it affects customers' instant happiness and their subjective well-beings by the intermediate variable, customers'perception of service justice.5. There is an obvious direct effect from the customers'perception of the service justice to their perception of service quality.6. The service firms'20/80 discriminatory resource input makes happiness of ordinary customers and that of VIP customers change in different directions, leading to welfare losts in customers, rather than welfare profits. From the view of "public good of human beings and harmony of society", the dissertation points out that service firms'20/80 discriminatory resource input is not justified.The empirical methodology is applied in the research of this dissertation. Based on the empirical observation and theoretical analysis, the concepts are defined, and hypothesis of relationship among concepts are developed. Also a parsimonious and powerful theoretical framework, covering concepts and hypothesis, is built in the research. Then surveys and experiments, which are usually used in behavior science, are applied to collect data, while advanced statistical programs are adopted for data analysis. Based on data analysis result, the hypotheses in the frameword are tested, and further theoretical analysis is conduted.The research combines service firms' resource inputs and customers' happiness. It enriches and expands the research of the service marketing and the study on happiness from aspects of perspectives, contents and methods. Moreover, it brings in Prospect Theory creatively—from the analysis of customers' happiness changes to the profound analysis of their welfare changes. Furthermore, the dissertation provides the service firms'marketing some theoretical supports to some extent, which may work as a practical guidance.