International Journal of Commerce and Management

Emerald Article: Towards an integrated model of customer service skills

and customer loyalty: The mediating role of customer satisfaction
Amjad A. Abu-ELSamen, Mamoun N. Akroush, Fayez M. Al-Khawaldeh, Motteh S.
Al-Shibly

Article information:
To cite this document: Amjad A. Abu-ELSamen, Mamoun N. Akroush, Fayez M. Al-Khawaldeh, Motteh S. Al-Shibly, (2011),"Towards an
integrated model of customer service skills and customer loyalty: The mediating role of customer satisfaction", International
Journal of Commerce and Management, Vol. 21 Iss: 4 pp. 349 - 380
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Towards an integrated model

of customer service skills
and customer loyalty
The mediating role of customer satisfaction

Customer
service skills

349

Amjad A. Abu-ELSamen
Department of Marketing, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

Mamoun N. Akroush
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Graduate School of Business Administration,
The German-Jordanian University, Madaba, Jordan

Fayez M. Al-Khawaldeh
Department of Business Administration/Marketing,
The University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, and

Motteh S. Al-Shibly
Department of Business Administration/Marketing,
The World Islamic Science and Education University, Amman, Jordan
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between customer service skills
and customers loyalty through examining the mediation effect of customer satisfaction dimensions in
Jordans mobile service operators.
Design/methodology/approach To achieve the research objectives, data were collected from
1,350 subscribers in Jordan from which 1,007 were valid for the analysis. Utilizing structural equation
modeling, and after a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the authors tested an
integrated model of customer service skills and customer loyalty through examining the meditational
effects of customer service satisfaction dimensions on the relationship between customer service skills
and customer loyalty.
Findings It was found that three of customer service skills components, namely; reputation building
skills, nonverbal communication skills, and customer service culture have positive relationships with
customer service satisfaction dimensions (overall, functional, and technical customer satisfaction). Also,
overall customer service satisfaction and technical customer service satisfaction dimensions fully
mediated the relationships between customer service skills and customer loyalty.
Originality/value This is the first attempt to investigate the relationship between customer
service skills and customer loyalty through customer service satisfaction dimensions as mediators,
either in Jordan or other developing countries. The authors results also provide significant managerial
implications on how to acquire and retain loyal customers in todays highly competitive
telecommunications market, and the vital role of customer service satisfaction dimensions on the
relationship between customer service skills and customer loyalty.
Keywords Jordan, Middle East, Mobile communication systems, Customer satisfaction,
Customer service skills, Technical customer satisfaction, Customer loyalty, Mobile telecommunications
Paper type Research paper

International Journal of Commerce

and Management
Vol. 21 No. 4, 2011
pp. 349-380
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1056-9219
DOI 10.1108/10569211111189365

IJCOMA
21,4

350

1. Introduction
Over the past two decades, there has been a rising interest in the customer service field
by both academics and professionals alike. Recognizing the need to differentiate their
offers, organizations in many competitive markets have realized that providing superior
customer service is the way to be distinguished from their competitors (Christopher,
1999; Baker, 2000; Lovelock, 2001; Kanovska, 2009). An organizations employees skills
and competencies are essential to making a successful service encounter and interaction.
The importance of the service encounter stems from the unique characteristics of
services which create special problems during the interaction process between the
customer and the service provider (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988; Cronin and Taylor,
1992; Lovelock, 2001). Such problems need highly competent and skillful employees to
tackle them. One of the strategic weapons to creating a successful interaction with
customers is to provide superior customer service. Furthermore, customer service
should be an essential part of marketing strategy. The rationale which underpins
customer service as a crucial part of the marketing strategy is that the majority of the
marketing strategy elements have become standardized and customers tend to perceive
them similarly, especially in telecommunications businesses where customers find it
difficult to distinguish between them. Consequently, we argue that customer service
may be the only element left to distinguish an organizations offering and its marketing
strategy through providing superior service that needs high quality employees who
possess certain skills and competencies which are essential to achieving customer
satisfaction and customer loyalty (CL). Furthermore, empirical studies (Technical
Assistance Research Programs, 1994; Stamatis, 1996; Akroush et al., 2005; Woods, 1999)
have found that customers who are treated well tend to perceive the service provider
positively, complain less, be more loyal, behave cooperatively, pay a higher price, and
perceive higher quality of service. This supports earlier empirical findings that revealed
that CL could lead to a 25-85 percent increase in profit (Reichheld et al., 1990).
Customer satisfaction has been a key theme in management and marketing research
over the last 20 years and the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty seems almost
intuitive (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Many researchers have examined theoretical and
conceptual foundations of customer satisfaction (Oliver, 1997; Luo and Bhattacharya,
2006). These scholars found that customer satisfaction is a major driver of CL. However,
the majority of previous research has addressed either overall customer satisfaction
(OCS) or used one dimension to measure it. Consequently, based on previous research,
we distinguish between three types of customer satisfaction. The three types are OCS,
functional customer satisfaction (FCS), and technical customer satisfaction (TCS)
(Anderson et al., 1994; Olsen and Johnson, 2003; Dimitriades, 2006). However, when
examining the satisfaction-loyalty link, previous research (Bolton et al., 1998; Walsh et al.,
2008) distinguished between customer satisfaction from the service outcomes
(i.e. satisfaction with the assortment/service) and satisfaction from the service
delivery process (i.e. satisfaction with functional process, e.g. employees friendliness)
and indicated that customer satisfaction affects positive word-of-mouth (Swan and
Oliver, 1989) and future repeat purchase (Bolton et al., 1998). Finally, OCS is a cumulative
construct summing satisfaction with specific products/services of the organization with
various other facets of the organization (Garbarino and Johnson, 1999).
From a practical point of view, there is strong empirical evidence that customer
satisfaction is a vital element to long-term business success (Kristensen et al., 1992;

Zeithaml et al., 1996). Companies that have a more satisfied customer base also
experience higher economic returns such as return on investments and profitability
(Aaker and Jacobson, 1994; Bolton et al., 1998; Yeung et al., 2002). High customer
satisfaction leads to greater CL (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993) which, in turn, leads to
future revenue (Fornell, 1992; Bolton et al., 1998). In marketing theory, there is strong
empirical evidence conducted mainly in Western business environments that shows that
customer satisfaction is a strong antecedent to CL (Zeithaml et al., 1996; Anderson and
Sullivan, 1993; Kim et al., 2004; Xu et al., 2006; Chadha and Kapoor, 2009). In Jordans
mobile telecommunications sector, there is a lack of research investigating the effect of
customer satisfaction dimensions over Jordanian CL.
To the best of our knowledge, this study is unique since it looks at a developing country
business environment. The Jordanian market has become international over the past
15 years by means of a lengthy process of modernization, regulation, and privatization. One
of the most affected industrial sectors of the Jordanian economy is that of
telecommunications. The importance of this study increases since Jordans mobile
service industry has been ranked as number one in terms of competitiveness in the Arab
World (Arab Advisors, 2010). This reveals the critical need for our study which is the first of
its kind in Jordan and in the Middle East. The study is equipped with evidence from
interviews with key experts in the mobile service industry which indicated that one of the
major problems facing mobile service operators (MSOs) currently is declining CL rates and
significant switching behavior. Furthermore, price competition between mobile operators
has changed the Jordanian market from an emerging market, during the mid-1990s, to an
almost saturated one, with customer penetration rate of 90.6 percent in 2008 (Jordan
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, 2008). According to Pfanner (2008),
eventually emerging markets will look more like their developed counterparts, where
competition is intense and network operators lament a lack of CL. This seems to be the case
of Jordans mobile telecommunications industry where 69 percent of mobile subscribers
have indicated their willingness to change their current mobile operators (Mobile
Syndicated Study Report, 2008). Jordanian mobile subscribers have grown to consider all
mobile operators to be the same (Kardoosh and Steityeh, 2009), with price as the only base
for differentiation among them (Mobile Syndicated Study Report, 2008). An alternative
strategy Jordans mobile operators could use is to compete through building and
maintaining successful customer service skills program to achieve customer satisfaction
and loyalty.
Therefore, what can service organizations do in the field of customer service in order
to increase customer satisfaction and CL in todays competitive business environment?
It is apparent that if customers are satisfied and see value in the provided customer
service, they are more likely to repeat purchase and tend to do so in the future (Goodman,
1999). Having said that, the main question remaining is what are the antecedents and
consequences of customer service satisfaction (CS)? Our main argument is that the
existence of individual employees customer service skills is a major contributor that
could lead to achieve customer satisfaction and CL in service businesses. Customer
service is an important topic because it has a strong link to customer satisfaction, which
then leads to CL. It is also linked to long-term financial outcomes such as profitability
(Duncan and Elliott, 2002, 2004). Once the service firm has established its range of
service product lines and branded them, it is of central importance to have an extensive
customer service program. The essence of this argument is that successful service

Customer
service skills

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businesses offer superior service products, but when the core service product and prices
are similar, customer service is the decisive factor. Furthermore, most new services can
be easily copied by competitors (Wong and Perry, 1991), and building up distinguished
brands in services industries is a relatively difficult task that may not differentiate a
service company. As a consequence, it is argued that customer service should be a main
part of any service firm offering strategy.
Utilizing customer service skills is vital for todays organizations since it has become
a crucial part of the marketing mix elements, as well as an integral part of the marketing
strategy in order to achieve success (Marr, 1987, 1990, 1994; Lambert and Harrington,
1989; Wong and Perry, 1991; Christopher, 1999; Baker, 2000). Although a recognized
effort was invested in the field of customer service, many businesses face declining
customer satisfaction rates (Karimi et al., 2001). Effective and efficient customer service
often fails to address important practical issues such as profitability, verbal and
nonverbal communication, strategic aspects of customer service, and well-trained
customer service staff. Customer service has been defined as the organizations ability
to perform all the processes and activities needed to enable customers to reach the right
parties in the company, receive quick and satisfactory service, and solve their problems
properly (Kotler, 2000). Hence, in association with Kotlers (2000) definition of customer
service and others work (Marr, 1994; Christopher, 1999; Baker, 2000; Lovelock, 2001),
we define customer service skills as individual employees behavioral competencies
that are essential to deliver a high quality of customer service. In this paper, individual
customer service employees (providers) are defined as those employees who interact
directly with the organizations customers, either face to face, over the phone, or over the
call center. However, despite an increasing amount of published material, there remains
a lack of agreement about what customer service is and how customer service
skills should be developed. Hence, the purpose of this article is to develop an integrated
model of customer service skills, CS, and CL from customer perspectives of Jordans
MSOs.
2. Research problem
Although there is a well established link between customer service and CS and CL (Marr,
1994; Smith and Lewis, 1989; Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991a, b; Quinn and Humble,
1993; Christopher, 1999; Lovelock, 2001; Swartzlander, 2004; Harris, 2007; Anderson and
Bolt, 2008), our research of customer service literature indicates that there is little
research effort devoted to investigating the link between customer service skills and CL
via CS, especially in service industries in developing countries business environments,
e.g. MSOs in Jordan. In Jordanian MSOs, we have not found any research project that is
designated to investigate such relationship. The only study we found in the field of our
study is a study conducted by Akroush et al. (2010) in which they developed a customer
service skills scale and dimensions in Jordans MSOs. Furthermore, the authors
examined the nomological network of customer service skills scale dimensions and
customer satisfaction as part of scale development validation. However, the study
recommended examining the relationship between customer service skills, customer
satisfaction, and CL in an integrated model. Consequently, our endeavor in this research
is to fulfill these gaps by developing a model of customer service skills, CS, and CL in
MSOs from customers perspectives in Jordan. Hence, this research contributes to the
literature by identifying the customer service skills and competencies that act as

antecedents to achieve CS properly that will lead to CL by developing an integrated

model of customer service skills and CL through empirically examining the mediation
effect of CS dimensions in this model. By fulfilling this gap, we hope to enrich our
understanding of customer service skills required by customers that enable MSOs
employees to satisfy customers and keep them loyal based on an empirical research
grounding. From an international marketing perspective, conducting research using
non-Western samples and focusing on all aspects of the marketing mix in developing
countries is highly encouraged; especially research equipped with rigorous quantitative
analysis has received a strong support and is recommended in future research
(Jain, 2007). Most customer service studies to date concentrate on customer service skills
and other issues in US and Western business environments in general with little effort
devoted to investigating it in developing countries. The results from this research will
provide international telecommunications organizations significant theoretical and
empirical research implications on the required skills of MSOs representatives that may
be a good indicator of required customer service skills in neighboring countries in the
Middle East. The essence of this argument is that many customer service programs have
experienced failure in Jordans MSOs because they adopted ready-made customer
service programs and policies brought from advanced economies of the world that may
not be suitable for the Jordanian/Middle Eastern culture. Furthermore, as part of the
Asian nations, Jordan shares some similarities with some Asian mobile service
industries such as China, Malaysia, and Indonesia (Zulganef, 2006; Xu et al., 2006;
Butt and De Run, 2008; Chadha and Kapoor, 2009; Ee Ling and De Run, 2009). The
major benefit that can be obtained from the current study is that such nations mobile
service industries may benefit from our study findings in improving individual
customer service skills since our empirical evidence has come from a relatively similar
business environment. Based on the aforementioned discussion, our research objectives
are:
(1) to reveal the customer service skills that should be possessed by individual
employees in order to provide a superior level of customer service from MSOs
customers perspectives;
(2) to investigate if there are relationships between customer service skills and
(1) customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction, (b) functional satisfaction,
(c) technical satisfaction), and (2) CL in MSOs from customers perspectives;
(3) to examine if the relationship between each component of customer service
skills and CL is fully mediated by customer satisfaction dimensions ((a) overall
satisfaction, (b) functional satisfaction, (c) technical satisfaction) in MSOs from
customers perspectives; and
(4) to investigate if there is a relationship between customer satisfaction
dimensions ((a) overall satisfaction, (b) functional satisfaction, (c) technical
satisfaction) and CL in MSOs from customers perspectives.
3. Research model and hypotheses development
Figure 1 shows the research model and the hypothesized relationships among its
variables which all are developed based on customer service skills, CS, and CL
literatures, as shown in the subsequent sections.

Customer
service skills

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21,4

Reputation Building
Skills
Problem Solving
Skills

354

Verbal
Communications Skills
Nonverbal
Communications Skills

Figure 1.
Proposed research model

Customer Service
Satisfaction
Overall Satisfaction
Functional Satisfaction
Technical Satisfaction

Customer
Loyalty

Customer Service
Culture Skills

3.1 Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction has been regarded as a fundamental determinant of long-term
consumer behavior (Oliver, 1980). Literature shows that there is no universally accepted
method or measurement scale that exists for CS. The measurement of customer
satisfaction is more exploratory in its development rather than being a precise, exact
science (Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006). In general, two approaches of customer
satisfaction dominate its literature (Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006). The first approach
is the expectancy-disconfirmation approach (Parasuraman et al., 1988; Zeithaml et al.,
1996). This approach is based on a comparison of customers expectations versus what
the customer actually experiences. Expectations-disconfirmation approach appears
most widely in definitions of product/service quality and consumer satisfaction.
This usually means that product/service performance falls short of (or exceeds)
what a consumer expects when making a purchase decision with negative
(or positive) implications for the experience. The second approach is the
performance-only approach. In this approach, service features are measured in
relation to transaction-specific, and satisfaction is conceptualized as a onetime post
purchase evaluation (Oliver, 1997).
Dimitriades (2006) asserted that two additional issues that need to be clarified when
researching CS in services are:
(1) whether satisfaction is conceptualized as facet (attribute specific) or as overall
(aggregate); and
(2) whether satisfaction is viewed as transaction-specific (encounter satisfaction) or
as cumulative (satisfaction over time).
In the same vein, Walsh et al. (2008) distinguished between satisfaction with the service
attributes and the overall satisfaction. In our research, we build on previous
conceptualizations of customer satisfaction (Anderson et al., 1994; Olsen and Johnson,
2003; Dimitriades, 2006; Walsh et al., 2008) to distinguish between three types of
satisfactions:

(1) OCS;
(2) FCS; and
(3) TCS.
According to Garbarino and Johnson (1999) OCS is a cumulative construct summing
satisfaction with specific products/services of the organization with various other facets
of the organization. The rationale of using a one-item measurement for OCS is that it is
used in our study as one of CS dimensions alongside other dimensions (not the only one
used to measure CS), and it has received support from previous literature review (Yuksel
and Rimmington, 1998; Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Jones and Suh, 2000; Leisen and
Vance, 2001). The second type of satisfaction is FCS. It is defined as the service encounter
satisfaction that reflects consumer evaluation of the service providers functional
capabilities to provide the service. Examples of such capabilities are employees
responsiveness in dealing with complaints, frontline employees interaction, and the
easiness to access the companys employees when needed. Finally, TCS is the service
attributes satisfaction, which reflects consumers evaluation of the service provider
technical capabilities to provide the service to the consumers (Cronin and Taylor, 1992;
Nicholls et al., 1998; Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006). Technical capabilities includes service
outcomes, companies reputation and image, and service prices. The rationale for using
functional and technical transaction-specific features in our study is that each one of
them was empirically tested and found valid from a cross section of industries within the
USA. They also were found to be generic to most industries rather than specific to any
one industry, meaning they could possibly be applied to assess service quality in most
cross industry settings (Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006). Furthermore, the major focus of
FCS and TCS was on the customers personal reaction to the service delivery and to the
service business environment in which it is delivered. Consequently, they were based the
perceived quality of service/product features experienced in the service encounter very
close to the SERVPERF model (Cronin and Taylor, 1992).
3.2 Customer loyalty
There seems to be two basic approaches to define CL; the stochastic and deterministic
approach (Odin et al., 2001). The stochastic approach views CL as a behavior manifested
in customers shares of purchase, purchasing frequency, repeat purchase,
recommendations, repurchase intentions, and willingness to pay price premium
(Raju et al., 1990; Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Zeithaml et al., 1996). On the other hand,
the deterministic approach addresses CL as an attitude manifested through customers
preferences, buying intentions, supplier patronization, and recommendation willingness
(Ehrenberg, 1988; Hallowell, 1996; Fournier and Yao, 1997; Xu et al., 2006). While both
approaches have their advocates, it should be underlined that defining CL as merely a
behavior overcomes the fact that customers behaviors are not always a reflection of their
attitudes. Certain factors might cause customers to act loyal while their attitudes are
negative or, at best, neutral towards a certain product or brand. Such factors could
include the lack of worthy competition, customers perceived risk of change and, most
seriously, customers perceived lack of difference between competing brands. Hence,
any research conducted on CL should adopt a deterministic definition in order to clearly
understand customers real attitudes towards mobile operators which could give more
solid indicators towards customers potential future behaviors towards mobile

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operators. Accordingly, our paper adopts Olivers (1997) deterministic definition of CL

who describes it as a deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred
product consistently in the future situational influences and marketing efforts that
might cause switching behavior. We use this definition because it includes both
attitudinal and behavioral aspects of loyalty and was used by other empirical studies
(Walsh et al., 2008).
Several authors have advocated the importance of CL to the future stability and
growth of any organization (Parvez, 2005; Calik and Balta, 2006; Tsoukatos and
Rand, 2006; McMullan and Gilmore, 2008). In the telecommunications services, it is
frequently pointed out that once customers have been acquired and connected to the
telecommunications network of a particular operator, their long-term relations with the
focal operator are of greater importance to the success of the company in competitive
markets than they are in any other industry sector (Gerpott et al., 2001, p. 249). Benefits of
CL include reducing the initial cost of introducing and attracting new customers,
positive word of mouth, increases in the number of purchases, and increases in the value
of purchases. In marketing theory, CS acts as an antecedent to CL (Zeithaml et al., 1996;
Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Kim et al., 2004; Xu et al., 2006; Zulganef, 2006; Chadha and
Kapoor, 2009; Ee Ling and De Run, 2009). A multitude of scientific articles in the mobile
service industry has found that CS is a major driver of CL (Aydin et al., 2005; Aydin and
Ozer, 2006; Lim et al., 2006, Kuusik and Varblane, 2009).
3.3 Development of hypotheses
3.3.1 Reputation-building skills. Literature shows that reputation has become one
of the most valuable assets of service organizations. An organizations image is
described as a major part of customer service quality (Gronroos, 1984; Akroush, 2008,
2009) in creating tangible cues to tackle problems created by the unique characteristics
of services. Employees in the organization and their attitudes, behaviors, and
activities strongly affect a companys image in customers minds (de Chernatony and
DallOlmo, 1999). Examples of such activities are: employees understating to the
importance of customers, establishing trust with customers, employees competencies
and commitment to provide the best services for the customers. Therefore, when a
problem happens with a customer and they need customer service, an organizations
customer service employees task becomes easier if the company enjoys a good
reputation in customers minds. Boyd et al. (1994) found that the most important
criterion upon which customers choose a service company is its reputation. Doyle (1999)
found that superior customer service has made a strong contribution for building a
strong brand name. de Chernatony and DallOlmo (1999) view branding as a critical way
to overcome difficulties created by the unique characteristics of services. There is a
crucial role for the human dimension (i.e., customer service employees) in order to create
a brand image because individuals in the organization and their attitudes, behaviors,
and activities strongly affect brands. The major theme in the literature is that building a
sound image in customers minds is one of the fundamental skills that an organizations
customer service employees should possess and utilize while interacting with
customers. In other words, individuals skills and competencies in building trust with
customers, understanding their importance to the company, and providing the best
benefits to them are crucial elements of building a companys reputation that are
fundamental to satisfy customers. Hence, it can be hypothesized that:

H1. There is a positive and significant relationship between reputation building

skills and customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction (b) functional
satisfaction (c) technical satisfaction.
3.3.2 Problem-solving skills. Problem solving skills requires utilizing employees
multi-skills such as their ability to identify, seek, and select the solutions for the
customers problems (Kotler, 2000; Odgers, 2008). Literature shows that problem solving
skills is one of the fundamental aspects of todays customer service employee skills
(Quinn et al., 1990; Swartzlander, 2004; Jones and Keppler, 2008). According to Harris
(2007), problem solving is an active resolution of a challenging situation. The goals of a
service business and a customer may be different and sometimes are directly opposed.
The best approach is to solve the problem creatively by reaching to a win-win solution.
Harris (2007) asserted that many people avoid problem solving because employees do not
have the skills necessary to effectively solve problems. Furthermore, empirical evidence
indicates that problem solving skills have a crucial effect on CS (Garfein, 1988; Quinn and
Humble, 1993; Freemantle, 1994; Harris, 2007; Odgers, 2008). The above literature
indicates that customer service employee problem solving skills and competencies are a
major driver of customer satisfaction. Hence, it can be hypothesized that:
H2. There is a positive and significant relationship between problem solving
skills and customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction (b) functional
satisfaction (c) technical satisfaction).
3.3.3 Verbal communication skills. Communication is the process by which information,
ideas, and understanding are shared between two or more people (Harris, 2007). There
has been almost a consensus in customer service literature that communication is an
essential part of successful customer service programs and policies, which is intuitively
divided into verbal and nonverbal communication using many traditional and
nontraditional means available to communicate with customers (Smith, 1999; Anderson
and Bolt, 2008; Odgers, 2008). Verbal communications skills include words, a set of
symbols, grammar, the rules for combining words, politeness, being positive, using
names and titles, and business etiquette (Swartzlander, 2004; Jones and Keppler, 2008).
Verbal communication skills should be customer-oriented through the availability of
listening skills such as making the other person feel heard, respecting customer
questions, and being responsive and friendly with customers when discussing their
problems (Quinn et al., 1990; Timm, 2005; Anderson and Bolt, 2008; Odgers, 2008).
Empirical evidence shows that employees verbal communications skills have a positive
effect on customers attitudes and satisfaction (Farber and Wycoff, 1991; Freemantle,
1994; Bernthal and Davis, 1998; Kotler, 2000; Varca, 2004), and on a companys image
(Smith and Lewis, 1989; Marr, 1994). Hence, it can be hypothesized that:
H3. There is a positive and significant relationship between verbal
communications skills and customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction
(b) functional satisfaction (c) technical satisfaction).
3.3.4 Nonverbal communication skills. Nonverbal communications skills are another
essential part of individuals skills to provide successful customer service (Quinn et al.,
1990; Jones and Keppler, 2008). According to Swartzlander (2004), it is everything except
words, such as employees ability to understand body language, movements and cues,
personality, and customers dress, facial expressions, and showing sincerity in serving the

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customer. Empirical research has shown that about two-thirds of a message comes from
nonverbal communication and one-third from words. Usually, in a single communication,
a mixed message contains two meanings; one, the verbal, positive, and one, usually the
nonverbal, negative. People tend to believe the nonverbal (Swartzlander, 2004). The
discussed literature indicates that there is rich empirical evidence that has linked
employees nonverbal communication skills with customer satisfaction (Farber and
Wycoff, 1991; Freemantle, 1994; Marr, 1994; Bernthal and Davis, 1998; Avkiran, 1999;
Varca, 2004). Furthermore, nonverbal communications skills is a major part of customer
service employees skills that deliver the first and lasting impression to customers
through many silent cues and body language that have a crucial impact on customer
satisfaction. Hence, it can be hypothesized that:
H4. There is a positive and significant relationship between non-verbal
communications skills and customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction,
(b) functional satisfaction, (c) technical satisfaction).
3.3.5 Customer service culture skills. The cornerstone of the marketing concept is
customer orientation (Webster, 1994). If a business is to be successful, its individuals
should be oriented towards satisfying the needs and wants of its customers. Individuals
of market-oriented organizations should be able to understand and identify their
customers needs and requirements (i.e. putting the customer at the heart of business,
making customers needs the top priority in the organization, continuously asking for
customers feedback). Every individual inside the company is responsible for satisfying
customers. This argument is supported earlier by Drucker (1968) who argued that
marketing is not sales or specialized activity, but the whole business seen from the point
of view of its final result, which is the customers point of view. Concern and
responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the business. However,
putting customers at the heart of the business requires a well established customer
oriented corporate culture in which individuals (employees) should possess a set of
values and beliefs that are likely to consistently reinforce and pervade the customer
focus across the organization (Deshpande et al., 1993). This argument is supported by
many researchers (Drucker, 1968; Deshpande et al., 1993; Webster, 1994; Slater and
Narver, 1996; Hunt and Morgan, 1995; Baker, 2000; Kotler, 2000; Lee, 2004;
Homburg et al., 2009) who found that individuals customer-centered culture is a
major driver of customer satisfaction since it is designed around customers needs and
complaints. Hence, it can be hypothesized that:
H5. There is a positive and significant relationship between customer service
culture skills and customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction (b) functional
satisfaction (c) technical satisfaction).
3.4 The mediating role of customer satisfaction
The presented empirical evidence has clearly shown that customer service skills are
linked to CS and CL. The literature also indicates that successful and market-driven
organizations, such as American Express (Garfein, 1988), UKs financial institutions
(Smith and Lewis, 1989), Sears Corporation (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991a, b),
McDonalds (Quinlan, 1991), BMW, British Gas, the Bank of Scotland, and Cornhill
Insurance company (Freemantle, 1994) and the best service organizations in the USA
(Berry, 1999), have created customer service programs and policies in order not only

to achieve CS but also to create loyal customers. The fundamental issue is that CS is the
direct consequence of a successful interaction between the service provider and the
customer pre-during-post the service delivery process which should create a positive
and memorable experience in the customer eyes and minds. Positive customer
experience with the service provider creates a solid ground for CL to repeat purchase in
the future, i.e. purchase intentions. Our research on customer service skills, CS and CL
indicates that CS is an antecedent of CL. In other words, the existence of customer
service skills is necessary but not sufficient to create CL unless customer service skills
lead to achieve CS. Consequently, CS acts as a mediator on the relationship between
customer service skills and CL (Zeithaml et al., 1996; Anderson and Sullivan, 1993;
Kim et al., 2004; Xu et al., 2006; Zulganef, 2006; Chadha and Kapoor, 2009; Ee Ling and
De Run, 2009). A further support for this argument has come from interviews
conducted with key experts in MSOs in Jordan at an early stage of this research while
developing our research model. According to key experts of MSOs in Jordan, they are
facing a major problem in keeping their acquired customers and retaining their current
ones. This is supported by the dealers and retailing manager of a leading mobile
services operator in the Jordanian market who commented that:
We do not have problems in acquiring new subscribers (customers) but we have serious
problems in retaining them. We are trying to answer one question: how can we keep our
customers loyal and retain them? [. . .] what we need to understand is that our customer must
be satisfied in the first place then we can have our customer service program in place in
order to retain and keep him loyal.

Hence, based on these arguments, it can be hypothesized that:

H6. The relationship between customer service skills and CL is mediated by
customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction (b) functional satisfaction
(c) technical satisfaction).
3.5 Development of sub-hypotheses
Literature shows that there is strong empirical evidence revealed that employee skills and
competencies are building blocks for creating a sound reputation in modern organizations
(Aaker, 1996; Doyle, 1999). Reputation is about what others believe to be true about
employees character, personality, skills, competencies, and values. Customers formulate
an opinion of these things based on what they have experienced while interacting with a
service companys employees. Eventually, that leads to satisfaction and then creates loyal
customers because of the positive thought that has been established with the customer.
Empirical evidence suggests that reputation building skills is one of the main roots of
creating loyal customers, but through creating a highly satisfied customer who should
have perceived value for money (Aaker, 1996; Doyle, 1999; de Chernatony and DallOlmo,
1999; Goodman, 1999; Akroush and Dmour, 2006). Such reputation building skills are
embedded in individuals skills and competences in organizations, e.g. customer service
employees. In other words, the discussed literature and interviews with key experts in
Jordans MSOs indicated that there is a relationship between reputation building skills
and CL depends on CS. Hence, it can be hypothesized that:
H7. The relationship between reputation building skills and CL is mediated
by customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction (b) functional satisfaction
(c) technical satisfaction).

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Empirical research shows that problem solving skills are effective and creative solutions to
solving customers problems (Garfein, 1988; Quinn and Humble, 1993; Marr, 1994;
Mouawad and Kleiner, 1996; Jones and Keppler, 2008). Once customers feel satisfied, then
they are entitled to a solution and to receive it; eventually that will turn them into loyal
customers (Jones and Keppler, 2008). Problem solving skills literature seems to have a
consensus that they are a great source of achieving and enhancing CL via satisfying
customers (Garfein, 1988; Quinn and Humble, 1993; Marr, 1994; Mouawad and Kleiner,
1996; Smith, 1999; Swartzlander, 2004; Harris, 2007; Odgers, 2008). This literature
indicates that solving customers problems and handling their complaints skillfully leads
to satisfy customers which turns them into loyal ones. In other words, the ability of
organizations to create loyal customers depends on their employees problem solving skills
and abilities which should enable them to achieve CS. Hence, it can be hypothesized that:
H8. The relationship between problem solving skills and CL is mediated by
customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction (b) functional satisfaction
(c) technical satisfaction).
Literature shows that, when customers have problems, employees should possess skills
of approaching and receiving them in a powerful way, which will make them believe in
the employees skills and in what they do ( Jones and Keppler, 2008). Such skills mean
that they are confident of what they are doing and the ways they are presenting the
solutions to their customers when they experience or encounter problems and/or
complaints have a major impact of CS and then on CL (Smith and Lewis, 1989; Farber
and Wycoff, 1991; Bernthal and Davis, 1998; Avkiran, 1999; Smith, 1999; Baker, 2000;
Goetsch and Davis, 2004; Anderson and Bolt, 2008; Jones and Keppler, 2008; Kanovska,
2009). Put in other words, when a customer has a problem, the way a companys
individuals perceive and approach him has a crucial impact on his satisfaction and is a
major determinant on his loyalty. Therefore, employees verbal communication skills
have an important effect on CL through CS. Hence, it can be hypothesized that:
H9. The relationship between verbal communications skills and CL is mediated
by customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction (b) functional satisfaction
(c) technical satisfaction).
Furthermore, nonverbal communications skills are an impressive and powerful form of
communication. When employees interact with their customers, they continuously give
and receive countless wordless signals (Jones and Keppler, 2008). The nonverbal signals
employees send either a sense of interest, trust, and desire for connection, or they
generate disinterest, distrust, and confusion. And that eventually affects the CS and the
subsequent decisions to be a loyal customer. Consequently, strong empirical and
conceptual literature found that nonverbal communications skills are distinguishing
features of todays customer service practices and skills to satisfy todays demanding
customers and to enhance CL potentials especially in businesses where customers found
difficulties in distinguishing between them, e.g. telecommunications (Smith and Lewis,
1989; Farber and Wycoff, 1991; Bernthal and Davis, 1998; Avkiran, 1999; Baker, 2000;
Goetsch and Davis, 2004; Lee, 2004; Timm, 2005; Anderson and Bolt, 2008; Jones and
Keppler, 2008). Therefore, the ability of an organization to keep its customers loyal
depends on its employees nonverbal communications skills that could lead to achieve CL
through CS. Hence, it can be hypothesized that:

H10. The relationship between nonverbal communications skills and CL is

mediated by customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction (b) functional
satisfaction (c) technical satisfaction).
Also, as indicated in the literature, employees customer service culture is a set of beliefs,
values, and action options that are communicated to all members of the organization that
become part of the employees lives and trends that affect their behavior with all,
including the customer. Those values affect the customers service level according to the
companys values and culture, which, usually when combined with the other values,
create high CS and CL since the customers feel a part of the firm and more like a member.
This is supported by a considerable amount of literature (Smith and Lewis, 1989;
Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991a, b; Quinn and Humble, 1993; Freemantle, 1994; Marr,
1994; Mouawad and Kleiner, 1996; Bernthal and Davis, 1998; Christopher, 1999; Baker,
2000; Varca, 2004; Goetsch and Davis, 2004; Odgers, 2008; Anderson and Bolt, 2008) that
advocates that one of the major drivers of customer service skills that leads to achieving
superior CS is individuals customer-centric culture that assists the organization in
achieving CL through CS. Hence, it can be hypothesized that:
H11. The relationship between customer service culture skills and CL is mediated
by customer satisfaction ((a) overall satisfaction (b) functional satisfaction
(c) technical satisfaction).
3.6 Customer satisfaction and CL
There is an extensive empirical research that links CS to CL. Several researchers, for
example, Anderson and Sullivan (1993), Fornell et al. (1996), Oliver (1997), Kim et al.
(2004), found that CL is a consequence of OCS. CL provides the foundation of a
companys sustained competitive advantage. Additionally, there is extensive empirical
evidence in mobile service telecommunications operators conducted in emerging
markets, which are similar to Jordan, that shows that CS has positively and significantly
affected CL (Zulganef, 2006; Xu et al., 2006; Butt and De Run, 2008; Chadha and Kapoor,
2009; Ee Ling and De Run, 2009). Developing and increasing CL is a crucial factor in
companies profitability, growth, and performance (Reichheld, 1996). What customers
perceive affects their judgment and later affects their satisfaction and loyalty. It is an
industry-wide belief that the best core marketing strategy for the future is to try to retain
existing customers by increasing customers loyalty and customer value (Kim et al.,
2004). Mobile operators in Jordan are searching for ways to differentiate themselves
from their competitors and gain benefits over competition. There have been various
promotional efforts over the last three years to differentiate themselves. Unfortunately,
due to the aggressive price wars in the market and with over 90 percent of market
penetration, MSOs do not have much room to differentiate on price and they experience
customers switching behavior to each other. Bloemer and Kasper (1995), asserted that
satisfaction is a necessary prerequisite for loyalty and that satisfied customers are more
likely to purchase the same product/service repeatedly. The ability to keep customers is
related to the intensity of customer satisfaction. Therefore, it is reasonable to predict
that satisfied customers in MSO will have a higher loyalty intention toward its services.
The discussed studies found that customer satisfaction is a major driver of CL. Hence,
it can be hypothesized that:
H12. There is a positive and significant relationship between OCS and CL.

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As stated previously, customer satisfaction can result from their evaluation of the
service outcomes (i.e. satisfaction with the assortment/service) and/or their evaluation
of the service delivery process (i.e. satisfaction with employees friendliness)
(Walsh et al., 2008). Customers that experience a high level of satisfaction with a
company are likely not only to remain with their existing providers, but also to spread
positive word-of-mouth and to show greater repurchase intention (Swan and Oliver,
1989; Fornell, 1992; Rust and Williams, 1994; File et al., 1994; Anderson et al., 1994;
Bolton et al., 1998). Therefore, both satisfaction dimensions should have positive effects
on CL. Hence it can be hypothesized that:
H13. There is a positive and significant relationship between FCS and CL.
H14. There is a positive and significant relationship between TCS and CL.
4. Research methodology
4.1 Population and sample
Our research population is mobile subscribers who had valid subscription in at least one
of the three mobile operators operating in Jordan and experienced problems with their
operators. Several attempts were made to access the three mobile operator customer
databases from which to draw the research sample. The three mobile operators were
extremely reluctant to provide their customers databases since they were highly
classified and confidential for competitive reasons. Consequently, to draw a
representative sample, a convenience sample was chosen from three major cities of
Jordan. According to Jordans Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (2008) these
cities represent approximately 80 percent of Jordans mobile service subscribers. These
cities are Amman (Capital of Jordan), Irbid, and Zarqa. Our sample included mobile
service subscribers in at least one of the three operators in Jordan who were regular
subscribers for at least nine months and experienced problems with their operators. The
questionnaires were personally delivered to the research sample by a team of researchers
in the marketing field and were collected after two weeks. A total of 1,350 surveys were
sent out; of those, 1,092 were returned. The effective sample size was 1,007. Table I
presents a description for the research sample characteristics.
4.2 Constructs operationalization
Scales used to measure the research constructs were drawn from available literature on
customer service skills, CS, and CL, as shown in Appendix 1. Customer service skills
consists of five behavioral constructs which were drawn based on empirical research of
Akroush et al. (2010). These behavioral constructs are: reputation-building skills, it is
operationally defined as employees understating to the importance of customers,
establishing trust with customers, employees competencies and commitment to provide
the best services for the customers. Problem-solving skills, it is operationally defined as
employees multi-skills and knowledge possession, identifying and understanding
customers problems, identifying and providing the best solutions based on win-win
situations. Verbal communication skills, it is operationally defined as employees
responsiveness and friendliness while explaining and discussing problems with
customers, and being respectful and sympathetic with customers when problems occur.
Nonverbal communication skills, it is operationally defined as multi-skills of
understanding body language, movements and cues, personality, and customers dress,

Gender
Subscribers subscription duration (month)
Less than 11
12-23
24-35
36-47
More than 48
Subscribers educational level
High school
Diploma (college) degree
Bachelor degree
Master degree
PhD degree
Subscribers mobile service usage
Heavy usage
Moderate usage
Low usage
Subscribers income
Less than 149 JDsa
150-299 JDs
300-449 JDs
450-599 JDs
600-749 JDs
More than 750 JDs
Total

Frequency

Percentages

98
229
124
85
471

9.7
22.7
12.3
8.4
46.8

182
193
515
97
20

18.1
19.2
51.1
9.6
2.0

270
608
129

26.8
60.4
12.8

111
209
225
259
166
37
1,007

11.0
20.8
22.3
25.7
16.5
3.7
100

Note: aJDs is the currency of Jordan Jordanian Dinar

facial expressions, and showing sincerity in serving the customer. Customer service
culture skills, it is operationally defined as employees commitment to do things right the
first time, putting the customer at the heart of the business, making customers needs the
top priority in the organization, continuously asking for customers feedback, easy access
to employees, handling customers complaints quickly, and making customer satisfaction
the responsibility of each employee in the organization. Akroush et al. (2010) five customer
service skills components have excellent composite reliabilities and average variance
extracted, respectively; reputation-building skills (0.81; 0.59), problem-solving skills
(0.96; 0.63), verbal communications skills (0.86; 0.62), nonverbal communications skills
(0.79; 0.55), and customer service culture (0.89; 0.65). Customer satisfaction, it is
operationally defined as OCS, FCS, and TCS. CL, it is operationally defined as customers
intentions to re-buy from their mobile operator in the future, willingness to recommend
their mobile operator to other people, and customers intentions to endorse their mobile
operator in front of other customers.
4.3 Data collection methods and field work
A self-completion questionnaire was used as the main primary data collection method.
The questionnaire used in the research survey was highly structured where most of its
questions were fixed-response alternative questions that required the respondents to
select from responses which are located by using five point Likert scales ranging from
5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). The type of research is a single cross-sectional

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Table I.
Research sample
characteristics

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design in which the collection of data from the research respondents (customers) was
carried out only once. Multiple item measures of each construct were used to capture its
richness and attributes. Our instrument was piloted using personal interviews with
customers and key managers in the mobile telecommunications industry to reveal
ability of customers (respondents) to understand it and to test its appropriateness for
research purposes. Using a team of researchers, the primary data collection was carried
out using the personal delivery approach which usually yields a high response rate.
The questionnaires were personally delivered to the respondents and were collected
after two weeks. In the main survey, we delivered 1,350 questionnaires to customers
(subscribers) of the three mobile operators in Jordan from which 1,092 were returned; the
response rate was 80.9 percent. The valid and useable questionnaires for data analysis
were 1,007 (92.2 percent from the returned questionnaires).
5. Analysis and results
5.1 Exploratory factor analysis
The dimensionality and measurement properties of customer service skills have been
established previously (Akroush et al., 2010). For the remaining variables, CS dimensions
(OCS, FCS, and TCS) and CL, our analysis started by examining their structure and
dimensionality using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability analysis. After
examining the rotated matrix of EFA, two items of the FCS (FCS 1 and FCS4) were cross
loaded with the TCS factor. However, we decided to further examine this issue through
conducting the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Cronbachs a for the four-item
functional satisfaction variable was 0.77, for the four-item technical satisfaction variable
was 0.78, and for the three-item CL variable was 0.89. EFA results are shown in
Appendix 2. The Hermans single factor test was conducted to diagnose common method
variance in this research. As can be seen in Appendix 2, the unrotated factor solution
results in a four-factor model, rather than a one-factor model, that explains the majority of
the covariance among the measures. This result is important because it indicates that
common method variance does not represent a substantial threat to the research findings.
5.2 Confirmatory factor analysis
The objective in this study is to retain the items that have high loadings to maintain
face validity since the modification indices suggest that many items have more in
common with each other than the specified model allows. Therefore, consistent with
the extant literature, offending items were sequentially deleted until the standardized
loadings and the fit indices revealed that no improvement could be attained through
item deletion. In addition, following guidelines outlined by Voss et al. (2003), a series of
shortened versions of the scale, were compared using x 2 difference test, goodness of fit
indices (GFI), and adjusted goodness of fit indices (AGFI). Following the decision rules,
the item deletion process stops if the deletion process compromises the construct
validity and when one or two possible results occur:
(1) the x 2 difference test shows no difference; and
(2) the AGFI does not increase.
The measurement model was estimated using LISREL (8.5). The model has poor fit
indexes (x 2 554.63, df 49, comparative fit index (CFI) 0.93, root mean square
error of approximation (RMSEA) 0.10, AGFI 0.87, and model AIC 612.63).

The modification indexes suggested that some items have significant cross loadings.
The items are: FCS1, FCS4, and TCS2. We decided to sequentially delete these items
and run the measurement model again. The fit indices revealed that the model provides
excellent fit to the data (Hu and Bentler, 1999) (x 2 75.64, df 22, CFI 0.99,
RMSEA 0.05, AGFI 0.97, and model AIC 121.64). This model has better fit
indexes and is favored for two reasons:
(1) the AIC for this (121.64) is lower than the AIC for the saturated model (612.63);
and
(2) the AGFI for this model (0.97) is higher than the AGFI for the saturated model
(0.87).
Therefore, the modified model will be the base for our discussion in the subsequent
sections. Appendix 3 shows the results of CFA.
5.3 Assessment of constructs validity
Additional evidence provided by or derived from the CFA suggests that the resulting
measures are reliable and valid as indicated by the relatively high composite reliability
(CR) and average variances extracted (AVE), as shown in Appendix 3 (Fornell and Larcker,
1981; Gerbing and Anderson, 1988). Convergent validity: to establish the convergent
validity, the items of specific construct should share a high proportion of variances in
common. As can be seen in Appendix 3, the convergent validity is indicated by:
.
All factor loadings are significant.
.
The relatively high AVE (FCS 67 percent, TCS 60 percent, CL 89 percent).
.
CR is higher than 0.7. (FCS 0.80, TCS 0.96, CL 0.89) provide evidence in
support of the measures reliability.
Discriminant validity. It is important to establish that the construct is truly distinct
from other constructs and captures some phenomena other measures do not. In our
research, the discriminant validity is established by:
.
The absence of significant cross loadings that are not represented by the
measurement model (i.e. congeneric measures). The absence of significant cross
loading is also an evidence of constructs unidimensionality (Gerbing and
Anderson, 1988).
.
Although the correlations among the five factors are significant (Table II), evidence
of the measures discriminant validity is provided by a significant x 2 difference
test in which the measurement model with construct correlations constrained to
unity was compared to a measurement model in which construct correlations were
specified as free and allowed to be less than 1 (Gerbing and Anderson, 1988).
Table III shows the x 2 difference tests between each pair of constructs with df 1.
5.4 Structural equation modeling: model and hypotheses testing
Following the extant literature in model specification (Cannon and Hombourg, 2001), the
reliability for the single indicator variables (i.e. OCS), was 0.85 in order to ensure model
identification. The model was estimated using structural equation modeling using
LISREL 8.5. After purifying the items using the CFA, the next stage of the analyses
was to conduct a structural equation model to test for the hypothesized relationships.

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Research construct

RBS

PSS

VCS

NCS

CSC

OCS

FCS

TCS

CL

366

RBS (m 3.69, std 0.85)

PSS (m 3.57, std 0.84)
VCS (m 3.69, std 0.90)
NCS (m 3.32, std 0.94)
CSC (m 3.54, std 0.84)
OCS (m 3.74, std 0.94)
FCS (m 3.73, std 0.80)
TCS (m 3.54, std 0.84)
CL (m 3.33, std 0.95)

1.00
0.73
0.66
0.56
0.69
0.54
0.54
0.57
0.49

1.00
0.73
0.62
0.71
0.51
0.50
0.55
0.47

1.00
0.61
0.70
0.47
0.48
0.53
0.43

1.00
0.68
0.48
0.47
0.51
0.43

1.00
0.54
0.60
0.65
0.54

1.00
0.54
0.63
0.57

1.00
0.57
0.48

1.00
0.59

1.00

Table II.
Correlations, means, and
SDs among the variables

Research constructs
Table III.
x 2 difference tests
between each pair
of constructs

OCS
FCS
TCS
CL

OCS

FCS

TCS

CL

82.67
115.88
79.86

119.33
84.44

122.44

With regard to testing mediation using SEM, Gerbing and Anderson (1988) suggested
following a two-step procedure:
(1) conducting a CFA to develop a measurement model with an acceptable fit to the
data; and then
(2) conducting a structural model to test the hypothesized relationships.
Then, the hypothesized fully mediated structural model is compared with a partially
mediated structural model to select the best fitting model using a number of CFIs
(Hu and Bentler, 1999).
In our analyses, we used the same approach suggested by Gerbing and Anderson
(1988) when testing the meditational effect of CS variables (OCS, FCS, and TCS) on the
relationship between customer service skills and CL. A full mediation model was built first
in which paths were created from each of customer service skills constructs to each of CS
variables (OCS, FCS, TCS), and from each of CS variables (OCS, FCS, TCS) to CL. The fit
indexes for the full mediation model were excellent (x2 283.89; df 55, CFI 0.98,
RMSEA 0.06 and AIC 383.89). Next, an alternative structural model was tested
(a partial mediation model), in which paths were created from each of customer service
skills constructs to each of CS variables (OCS, FCS, TCS), and from each of CS variables
(OCS, FCS, TCS) to CL as well as adding direct paths from each of customer service skills
constructs to CL. The fit indexes for the partial mediation model were excellent
(x 2 280.95; df 50, CFI 0.98, RMSEA 0.07 and AIC 390.95). We then used
the Satorra-Bentler scaled x 2 difference test (Satorra and Bentler, 2001) to compare the full
mediation and the partial mediation models to determine which model was a better fit to
our data. As can be seen in Table IV, when comparing the two models, the x 2 between the
two models showed a difference of 2.94 , 11.07 (0.05, 5), thus, favoring the more
parsimonious model with the least paths, which is the full mediation model.

Additionally, the CFIs for the full mediation model were better than the mirrored ones in
the partial mediation model (i.e. lower RMSEA and lower AIC).
The structural equation findings indicate that, based on R 2, customer service skills
components explain 62 percent of the variance in each of OCS and FCS, and 77 percent of
the variance in TCS. Furthermore, customer satisfaction (OCS, FCS, and TCS) explain
52 percent of the variance in CL. Regarding the individual relationships, the results
showed that reputation building skills positively influence OCS, FCS and TCS (t 9.29,
t 7.75, and t 8.63, p , 0.05, respectively), problem solving skills negatively
influence OCS, FCS, and TCS (t 24.29, t 2 3.78, and t 2 4.52, p , 0.05,
respectively), verbal communication skills negatively influence OCS, FCS, and TCS
(t 2 4.35, t 2 3.98, and t 2 4.33, p , 0.05, respectively), nonverbal
communication skills negatively influence OCS, FCS, and TCS (t 4.86, t 2.75, and
t 3.26, p , 0.05, respectively), customer service culture positively influence FCS and
TCS (t 3.72, t 4.23, p , 0.05, respectively) and has no relationship with OCS
(t 2 0.41). Furthermore, the results showed that OCS and TCS positively influence CL
(t 6.46, t 7.67, p , 0.05, respectively). In contrast, the relationship between FCS
and CL was found to be nonsignificant (t 1.68). The full mediation is established
because none of customer service skills has a direct significant relationship with CL, and
both OCS and TCS have a direct positive relationship with CL. A summary of the fully
mediated model findings is shown in Table V. Overall, in testing our hypothesized model
shown in Figure 1, we found that CS (OCS, FCS, and TCS) fully mediate the relationships
between customer service skills and CL. When examining the influence of each CS
(OCS, FCS, and TCS) as mediators, we found that CS (OCS and TCS) fully mediate the
effect of customer service skills on CL.

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5.5 Results discussion

The empirical results supported the prediction that customer service skills have
significant relationships with customers satisfaction (OCS, FCS and TCS). Customer
service skills explained 62 percent of the variance in each of OCS and FCS, and 77 percent
of the variance in TCS. This finding is of strategic significance since the effect of
customer service skills on TCS is higher than their effect on both overall and FCS. The
implication here is that the bottom line of customer satisfaction is the final outcome of the
interaction process that takes place between the customer and the service provider. This
is supported by another empirical finding in our study which shows that TCS has
exerted the highest effect on CL. A vital implication is that the major focus of customer
service skills should be not only on FCS but also on TCS which should lead to CL.
Regarding the individual relationships in our hypothesized model, the results
showed that these relationships were not all at the same direction. We found that the
reputation-building dimension had a significant positive effect on CS dimensions,
Mediation models indices

x2

CFI

AIC

RMESA

Full mediation
Partial mediation
x 2 difference test results
Full mediation vs partial
mediation

283.89
280.95

0.98
0.98

383.89
390.95

0.06
0.07

x Diff 2.94 , 11.07 (0.05, 5) Accept full mediation

Table IV.
Comparison for
mediating effects of
customer satisfaction

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Table V.
Findings of CS (OCS,
TCS) fully mediates
the relationship between
CSS and CL

Variables in the paths model

t-value *

ba

RBS ! OCS
RBS ! FCS
RBS ! TCS
PSS ! OCS
PSS ! FCS
PSS ! TCS
VSC ! OCS
VCS ! FCS
VCS ! TCS
NCS ! OCS
NCS ! FCS
NCS ! TCS
CSC ! OCS
CSC ! FCS
CSC ! TCS
OCS ! CL
FCS ! CL
TCS ! CL

9.29 *
7.75 *
8.63 *
24.29 *
2 3.78 *
24.52 *
24.35 *
23.98 *
24.33 *
4.86 *
2.75 *
3.26 *
20.41
3.72 *
4.23 *
6.46 *
1.68
7.67 *

1.09
0.80
0.89
20.33
20.27
20.32
20.37
20.32
20.33
0.39
0.20
0.23
20.04
0.34
0.37
0.29
0.08
0.43

Hypotheses tested
H1
H1
H1
H2
H2
H2
H3
H3
H3
H4
H4
H4
H5
H5
H5
H6
H6
H6

Hypotheses results
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Rejected
Rejected
Rejected
Rejected
Rejected
Rejected
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Rejected
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Rejected
Accepted

Notes: Significant at: *p , 0.05; astandardised beta coefficients

supporting H1. This finding is well supported in marketing literature (Smith and Lewis,
1989; Boyd et al., 1994). Moreover, our analysis revealed the nonverbal communication
skills dimension positively related to CS dimensions, supporting H4. This relationship is
expected due to the documented literature on effect of nonverbal communication skills
on CS and attitudes (Freemantle, 1994; Marr, 1994; Bernthal and Davis, 1998; Varca,
2004). Furthermore, enhancing employees customer service culture was found to be an
important factor to influence CS dimensions. Deshpande et al. (1993) found that service
organizations need to have a customer-oriented corporate culture to practice customer
orientation and CS dimensions. Our results found a positive relationship between
customer service culture and customers satisfaction, supporting H5.
In contrary to what we hypothesized, we found that the relationships between the
problem-solving skills dimension, verbal communication skills, and CS dimensions
was negative, thus, rejecting H2 and H3. The results can be explained through the
service recovery paradox; that is, CS ratings tend to be higher when a service failure
occurs and is successfully recovered than those ratings when there is no failure at all.
Our sample was drawn from those subscribers who had problems with their operators
and thus experienced a service failure that was not successfully recovered by the
service provider, which explains the negative relationship with CS.
The results also supported hypothesis H6 which states that the relationship between
customers service skills and customers loyalty is fully mediated by customers
satisfactions (overall and technical) (Parasuraman et al., 1994). This conclusion is echoed
in the finding that none of the customer service skills has a direct significant relationship
with CL and that both OCS and TCS have a direct positive relationship with CL. This
finding is well established in the literature which asserts that customer service skills are
necessary but not sufficient to create CL, unless they lead to achieve CS and meet
customers needs (Aaker, 1996; Jones and Keppler, 2008).

Regarding the individual relationships between CS dimensions (OCS, FCS, and TCS),
and CL, only FCS had no effect on CL, whereas both OCS and TCS had significant
effects on CL, thus, supporting H12 and H14, but rejecting H13. As Fornell (1992) and
Anderson et al. (1994) indicated, customers that experience a high level of satisfaction
with a company are likely to remain with their existing operators and maintain their
subscription that leads to future revenue for the company. Furthermore, a high level of
service becomes the selling point to attract customers attention and is the most
important and significant driver in CS. Furthermore, our research provides an important
theoretical contribution manifested in the finding that CS (OCS and TCS) fully mediate
the relationship between customer service skills and CL. This is an important finding
because it supports the literature on CL, as without assuring satisfaction in the
relationship there will be no loyalty as an outcome for such relationship. However,
FCS did not have a significant effect on CL but maintained a positive one which indicates
the importance of TCS on CL.
6. Contribution to services marketing literature
Theoretically, our research is the first that has examined the effect of customer service
skills dimensions on customers loyalty via customers satisfaction as an integrated
model. This research has enriched our understanding of the customer service skills that
should be possessed by mobile service organizations employees who have a positive
effect on customers satisfaction and later leads to achieve CL. From an international
marketing perspective, our research is the first of its kind that is devoted to
understanding customer service skills and CL through CS in emerging or developing
countries business environments, e.g. Jordan. The majority of research conducted in this
arena is either descriptive (e.g. listing customer service skills) or embraced classic
customer service quality and CS models which are well established and developed in
western business environments. Our research is different because it has investigated
customer service skills from an employee competency-approach through focusing on the
required customer service skills to satisfy customers and keep them loyal in an emerging
market. Finally, from the transactional marketing perspective, it is recognized that the
marketing mix elements, either the 4Ps or the 7Ps, are very similar among mobile service
organizations, especially the core mobile service, and customers tend to perceive them
similarly, i.e. low level of product differentiation. It could be argued that the customer
service skills are the only marketing mix element left for mobile service organizations to
satisfy customers and keep them loyal. Moreover, although they are bigger in size, some
Asian Nations mobile service industries could benefit from the findings of our research
since they share some similarities with Jordan such as culture and behavior.
6.1 Managerial implications
The results from this research have several implications for managers and decision
makers in the mobile service sectors. MSOs should focus their efforts and training
on enhancing their employees reputation building skills, nonverbal communication
skills, and customer orientation skills, as all these factors were found to be enhancers to
customer satisfaction. This training could be done internally by communicating to
both consumers and employees what the company brand stands for, educating the
employees about the importance of body language cues in delivering a lasting
impression about the company, and ensuring that service delivery consistently exceeds

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customer expectations. Equally important is building employees problem solving

skills and verbal communications skills because it seems that the companies in the
mobile sector lack the adequate level of these skills in their employees. This could be
done through creating a learning oriented organization where the employees learn how
to multi-task through brainstorming sessions and personal interactions. This
interaction will also have a positive effect on enhancing employees verbal skills as
they learn how to listen to their customers and anticipate their needs. Our results
provide a framework for the managers to maintain loyal customers. It was found that
availability of customer service skills is not sufficient for having loyal customers
because customers perception of the service delivered affects their evaluation and
eventually their level of satisfaction, with the intention of keeping the customer loyal,
satisfied and to achieve excellent performances. In fierce competition, it is essential for
the MSOs to develop superior customer service skills and customer service capabilities
that are able to satisfy and retain customers loyal.
6.2 Limitations and future research directions
As with all empirical research, research limitations exist as a result of trade-off in
research design decisions. Although our research model is developed based
on theoretical grounds, its generalizability is limited to the mobile service industry
in Jordan as a single industry. However, this is consistent with services marketing
literature that encourages developing a body of marketing knowledge within single
service industries. A potential area of future research is to replicate our model on other
service industries in Jordan as well as on developing and developed countries to test
its generalizability. Furthermore, comparative or cross-cultural studies are highly
encouraged. Also, only five-facets of customer service skills are investigated in our
model which implies that we might have overlooked other important dimensions of
customer service skills. A future area of research is to elaborate the customer service
skills in our model and examine the effect of expanded skills on the other constructs in
the model. Furthermore, the negative relationships between problem solving skills and
verbal communication skills and customer satisfaction is counter intuitive. A potential
venue for future research is to validate these findings. From a methodological
perspective, a hierarchal effect of MSO might exist. It is possible that multi-level effects
were operating because responses were drawn from three MSOs. Furthermore, it is
possible that the subscriber characteristics (i.e. duration and usage rate) might have
affected the proposed relationships. Unfortunately, the data were collected on an
aggregate level and cannot be analyzed for each MSO to test for the afore-mentioned
limitations. Therefore, it could be a possible area of future research. Finally, another
area of potential future research is to examine if the relationship between customer
satisfaction dimensions and CL is affected by other variables such as relationship
marketing, customer service capabilities, customers subscription duration, and
customers expertise.
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Trim, P. and Lee, Y. (2004), Enhancing customer service and organizational learning through
qualitative research, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol. 7,
pp. 284-92.
(The Appendices follow overleaf.)
Corresponding author
Mamoun N. Akroush can be contacted at: Mamoun.Akroush@gju.edu.jo

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Customer
service skills

377

Table AI.
Research constructs
measurements and items

Customer service skills constructs and items

Reputation-building skills: RBS1-RBS3
Akroush et al. (2010)
RBS1: employees focus on credibility and building trust with the companys
customers
RBS2: employees ability to understand the importance of customers for the
companys future and continuity
RBS3: employees commitment to provide best benefits and services for companys
customers
Problem solving skills: PSS1-PSS4
PSS1: employees knowledge and ability to deal with different types of customers
PSS2: employees define the requirements of my problems possible solutions
PSS3: employees seek to identify the possible solutions for my problems with the
company
PSS4: employees seek to select the best solution for my problems with the
company
Verbal communication skills: VCS1-VCS4
VCS1: employees are careful not to interrupt me while explaining my problem
VCS2: employees are careful to give me enough time to explain my problem even
they are busy
VCS3: employees share positive comments with me while discussing my problems
VCS4: employees have enough sympathy and respect with my problems when
they occur
Nonverbal communication skills: NCS1-NCS3
NCS1: ability of employees to understand my facial expressions and impressions
NCS2: ability of employees to understand my personality from appearance and the
way I behave in the waiting area
NCS3: ability of employees to understand my personality through my voice
volumes and cues while talking to them
Customer service culture: CSC1-CSC6
CSC1: employees are committed to do whatever it takes to create satisfied
customers
CSC2: employees try to do things right the first time

Author(s)

(continued)

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Appendix 1

378

CSC3: the company that I deal with considers the customer as the most important
element in doing business
CSC4: serving customers needs takes priority over meeting internal needs in the
company
CSC5: employees aim to resolve customer complaints quickly
CSC6: employees have a good understanding of the companys products and
services
Customer satisfaction
Overall satisfaction: OCS
Anderson et al. (1994), Garbarino and Johnson (1999), Mittal
et al. (1999), Olsen and Johnson (2003), Dimitriades (2006),
Walsh et al. (2008)
OCS: overall, I am satisfied with the companys customer services quality
Functional customer satisfaction: FCS1-FCS4
FCS1: satisfaction with employees responsiveness in dealing with your
complaints
FCS2: satisfaction with frontline employees competencies and skills
FCS3: satisfaction with frontline employees interactions with you
FCS4: satisfaction with easiness to access the companys employees when needed
Technical customer satisfaction: TCS1-TCS4
TCS1: satisfaction with the provided customer services outcomes when you have a
problem with the company
TCS2: satisfaction with the companys services prices
TCS3: satisfaction with the companys reputation and image that you dealt with
TCS4: satisfaction with speediness of providing customer services to you when
requested
Customer loyalty: CL1-CL3
CL1: I would buy from my mobile operator again in the future
Anderson and Sullivan (1993), Fornell et al. (1996), Hallowell
(1996), Oliver (1997), Kim et al. (2004)
CL2: I would recommend my mobile operator to other people, e.g. my friends and
relatives to make their purchases in the future
CL3: I would endorse and defend my mobile operators image in front of other
customers

Author(s)

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service skills

379

Table AI.

IJCOMA
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Appendix 2
Coding

380

OCS
OCS
FCS
FCS1
FCS2
FCS3
FCS4
TCS
TCS1
TCS2
TCS3
TCS4
CL1
CL2

Table AII.
EFA results

CL3

Variables and items

EFA factors loadings

OCS FCS TCS
CL

Overall customer satisfaction

Overall, I am satisfied with the companys customer services quality 0.597
Functional customer satisfaction
Satisfaction with employees responsiveness in dealing with your
0.670
complaints
Satisfaction with frontline employees competencies and skills
0.741
Satisfaction with frontline employees interactions with you
0.782
Satisfaction with easiness to access the companys employees when
0.763
needed
Technical customer satisfaction
Satisfaction with the provided customer services outcomes when
0.660
you have a problem with the company
Satisfaction with the companys services prices
0.496
Satisfaction with the companys reputation and image that you dealt
0.412
with
Satisfaction with speediness of providing customer services to you
0.700
when requested
I would buy from my mobile operator again in the future
I would recommend my mobile operator to other people, e.g. my
friends and relatives to make their purchases in the future
I would endorse and defend my mobile operators image in front of
other customers

0.823
0.825
0.769

Appendix 3

Research constructs and items

Table AIII.
Customer satisfaction
and CL measures: CFA
and constructs measures
validity

Overall satisfaction
Overall, I am satisfied with the companys customer services quality
Functional satisfaction
Satisfaction with frontline employees competencies and skills
Satisfaction with frontline employees interactions with you
Technical satisfaction
Satisfaction with the provided customer services outcomes when you
have a problem with the company
Satisfaction with the companys reputation and image that you dealt with
Satisfaction with speediness of providing customer services to you when
requested
Customer loyalty
I would buy from my mobile operator again in the future
I would recommend my mobile operator to other people, e.g. my friends
and relatives to make their purchases in the future
I would endorse and defend my mobile operators image in front of other
customers

Average
Std Composite variance
loading reliability extracted
0.81
0.80

0.67

0.96

0.60

0.89

0.89

0.85
0.78
0.74
0.68
0.74
0.86
0.90
0.81