Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 30 (2016) 212–221

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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser

Customer perceptions of frontline employee service delivery: A study

of Russian bank customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions$
Michel Rod a,n, Nicholas J. Ashill b, Tanya Gibbs b
a
Sprott School of Business Carleton University Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6
b
School of Business and Management, American University of Sharjah, PO Box 26666, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study examines the nature of relationships between customer perceptions of frontline employee
Received 27 October 2015 service delivery (core and relational), satisfaction and selected behavioural intentions by using customers
Accepted 9 February 2016 of a commercial retail bank in Russia as its setting. Contrary to findings from North American-Western
Available online 19 February 2016
research, the study findings show that relational service delivery only significantly impacts customer
Keywords: satisfaction for Russian males whereas core service delivery only impacts this affective outcome for
Customer Satisfaction Russian female customers. Implications of the results are discussed and future research avenues are
Gender offered.
Survey & 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Russia
Core and relational service
Behavioural intentions

1. Introduction The importance of both core and relational aspects of service

Acknowledging that frontline employees are perhaps the most
critical link in the provision of superior customer service, there has
been increasing attention paid to customer perceptions regarding
the quality of service delivery (Brady et al., 2001; Rust et al., 1996;
Yoon et al., 2001). Frontline employees deliver service to custo-
mers that can be segregated into two components: core service
and relational service (Iacobucci and Ostrom, 1993). The core
component of a service refers to the nucleus of the service offer-
ing, i.e., the “what” that is delivered, and represents the minimum
expected by customers in a service encounter. The relational
component, in contrast, describes the interpersonal process by
which the service is delivered to customers, i.e., the “how”.
Grönroos (1984) seminal taxonomy of core and relational service
quality dimensions corresponds to the technical quality (what is
delivered – an outcome orientation) and functional quality (how
service is delivered – a process orientation) respectively. While
technical quality encompasses such core features as reliability and
security, other features (e.g., courtesy, helpfulness and pleasant-
ness of the service) are associated with the relational aspects of
the service.
☆
This research was supported in part by a faculty research grant from the School
of Business and Management at the American University of Sharjah.
n vioural intentions (mainly word-of-mouth and intent to remain
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: michel.rod@carleton.ca (M. Rod), nashill@aus.edu (N.J. Ashill),
tgibbs@aus.edu (T. Gibbs).
delivery and consequent service outcomes has been well estab-
lished in the marketing literature (e.g., Barnes, 1997; Crosby et al.,
1990; Grönroos, 1990; Iacobucci and Ostrom, 1993; Yavas, 2007).
Numerous studies have demonstrated that both of these aspects of
service delivery positively impact on service outcomes such as
customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions (Berry, 1983;
Bitner et al., 1990; Iacobucci et al., 1994; Iacobucci and Ostrom,
1993; Levesque and McDougall, 1996; McDougall and Levesque,
1994). The social side of service delivery is considered particularly
relevant where there are high levels of customer–employee con-
tact (Butcher et al., 2003), and where customer service appraisal
originates from not only the quality of the core service but also the
manner in which the customer was treated (Bitner et al., 1990).
In the services marketing literature, gender has been and
continues to be one of the most common bases of differentiating
customer perceptions around service delivery and quality (Baba-
kus and Yavas, 2008; Choi et al., 2005; Shao et al., 2004). This
makes sense since gender is easy to identify, measure and access.
The growing volume of research on gender differences is prima
facie evidence of the central role of gender in contributing to
different customer perceptions of service delivery and quality. In
the services literature, there is growing research attention to the
moderating role of gender on the impact of core versus relational
service delivery on both customer satisfaction and various beha-
with the service provider (Sánchez-Hernández et al., 2010; Yavas
et al., 2007). The consensus from this research is that for female

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2016.02.005
0969-6989/& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Rod et al. / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 30 (2016) 212–221
customers, the impact of relational service quality on customer
satisfaction and behavioural intentions is stronger than for core
service quality whereas for males, the impact of core service
quality is stronger than for relational service quality (Mittal and
Kamakura, 2001; Noble et al., 2006; Sun and Qu, 2011). However,
the domain of enquiry has largely been in the individualistic set-
tings of North America and Western Europe.
Our review of the extant literature reveals two areas worthy of
investigation. First, non-western, collectivist countries have been
under-represented in studies of core/relational service delivery on
affective (e.g. customer satisfaction) and behavioural outcomes
(e.g. loyalty and word-of-mouth). Collectivism represents an in-
dividual's belief that collective or group interests should take
precedence over individual self-interest (Kim et al., 1994). Hof-
stede (1980) focused on collectivism as a key characteristic that
differentiated national cultures, and a variety of researchers have
studied collectivism as an important between-culture character-
istic (see for example Earley (1993), Hui and Triandis (1986) and
Kim et al. (1994)). Therefore, an interesting research endeavour is
to determine the extent to which customer perceptions of core
and relational service delivery impact both customer satisfaction
and behavioural intentions in a collectivist setting.
Second, there exists a paucity of research in collectivist settings
examining the moderating role of gender in the domain of core/
relational service delivery. Collectivism has been shown to influ-
ence the importance of service quality and relationship quality
regarding customers' behavioural intentions (Ozdemir and He-
wett, 2010). In delving into the collectivism literature, we suggest
that gender roles within non-individualist settings might exert
different moderating influences in the relationships between ser-
vice delivery, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions.
Thus, examining gender differences can potentially guide bank
managers in designing more targeted strategies or guard against
misguided actions, thereby enabling them to judiciously allocate
their limited resources where they matter most (Yavas et al., 2014).
Against this background, the present study investigates the
relationships between male and female customer perceptions of
frontline employee service delivery (core and relational) and, their
satisfaction and behavioural intentions in the context of retail
banking in a collectivist setting. Specifically, the study seeks to
determine which components of frontline employees' service de-
livery (core or relational) have a stronger influence on customer
satisfaction of male and female bank customers in Russia, and
Fig. 1. Research model.
213
which then leads to positive behavioural intentions.
We begin by discussing the research model used to guide the
study and related literature (see Fig. 1). In so doing, we present
hypotheses that relate core and relational service delivery, custo-
mer satisfaction and behavioural intentions along with the pro-
posed moderating role played by gender. Second, we present an
empirical study that was conducted in a large commercial retail
bank in Russia. Finally, we present our results and discuss im-
plications for researchers and practitioners.
2. Conceptual framework and hypotheses
Our research model is grounded in Bagozzi's (1992) re-for-
mulation of attitude theory which advocates that an individual's
appraisal of his/her environment (cognitions) produces particular
affective responses that subsequently lead to various behaviours,
hence the sequence of appraisal, emotional reactions, and beha-
viour (Alexandrov et al., 2007; Babakus and Yavas, 2008; Cronin
et al., 2000). Consistent with Bagozzi (1992), our conceptual fra-
mework [see Fig. 1] examines the process through which customer
appraisals of frontline bank employee service service (core and
relational) influence affective feelings of customer satisfaction and
subsequent behavioural intentions in banking.
There is reasonable consensus that favourable service delivery
perceptions lead to improved satisfaction (Cronin et al., 2000) and
this has been demonstrated in a banking context (Kayeser and
Abdur Razzaque, 2014. In addition, a number of studies show a
favourable effect of customer satisfaction on various behavioural
intentions in the retail banking sector (Ganguli and Roy, 2011;
Karatepe et al., 2005; Yavas et al., 2004, 2007). Most authors agree
on the positive influence of customer satisfaction on behaviour
(e.g. Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Cronin and Taylor, 1994; Cronin
et al., 2000; Dabholkar et al., 2000; Parasuraman et al., 1988; Rust
and Zahorik, 1993; Zeithaml et al., 1996). From an affective per-
spective, satisfaction is considered a positive emotional state re-
sulting from the service experience (Liljander and Strandvik, 1997;
Roest and Pieters, 1997; Rust and Oliver, 1994). Customer sa-
tisfaction is widely acknowledged as a key influence in the for-
mation of customers' future purchase intentions (Taylor and
Baker, 1994). Satisfied customers tend to tell others about their
favourable experiences and thus engage in positive word-of-
mouth promotion (File and Prince, 1992) which in a collectivist
214 M. Rod et al. / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 30 (2016) 212–221
society such as Russia, can improve social relationships with oth-
ers in the society (Hofstede, 1980). Levesque and McDougall (1996)
demonstrate that unsatisfactory customer service leads to reduced
customer satisfaction and decreased willingness to recommend
the service to a friend. This can subsequently lead to an increase in
the rate of switching by customers.
The banking sector is an attractive setting for the investigation
since banking services represent high-risk, high-involvement deci-
sions for most customers (Babakus et al., 2004) and customer-ser-
vice provider interactions in banking are not limited to just a single
experience but rather represent an on-going relationship involving
repeated service encounters and multiple transactions (Fischer
et al., 1997). In addition, there has been increasing attention paid to
the differential and combined contribution of the relational and the
core service components as drivers of satisfaction and behavioural
intentions in a banking context via an appraisal —» emotional re-
sponse —» behaviour framework (Dimitriadis and Koritos, 2014;
Karatepe, 2011; Martin-Consuegra et al., 2006).
Consistent with the work of numerous scholars in non-col-
lectivist settings (Águila-Obra et al., 2013; Dimitriadis, 2010; Di-
mitriadis and Koritos, 2014; Ibáñez et al., 2006; Koritos et al., 2014;
Olorunniwo and Hsu, 2006), we first examine the impact of cus-
tomer perceptions of the components of service delivery on be-
havioural intentions fully-mediated by customer satisfaction.
Thus:
H1a. Customer satisfaction fully mediates the relationship be-
tween core service delivery and behavioural intentions.
H1b. Customer satisfaction fully mediates the relationship be-
tween relational service delivery and behavioural intentions.
2.1. Gender differences
Studies in sociology, psychology and marketing management
point to a number of interesting findings regarding gender. First,
research shows that men are more agentic (task- or goal-oriented)
whereas women are more communal (relationship-oriented)
(Babin and Boles, 1998; Iacobucci and Ostrom, 1993; Meyers-Levy,
1988; Mittal and Kamakura, 2001). This agentic versus communal
distinction between the two sexes impacts how each gender
views, appraises and responds to the environment (Rudmin, 1990).
Western consensus suggests that women have a greater concern
for social context and relationships and place more importance on
interpersonal relationships relative to men (Belenky et al., 1986).
In western societies, women are seen as warm and emotionally
expressive while men are typically perceived as technically com-
petent and instrumental (Deaux, 1984). Overall, women are more
expressive and receptive to emotional communication in their
personal lives (e.g., Sprecher and Sedikides, 1993). In the formation
of relationships, emotional considerations are more important to
women whereas men tend to stress rational factors.
Yavas et al. (2014) suggest that the importance women place on
emotional as opposed to rational factors is reflected in their ap-
proach to evaluating an experience. Research based on the widely-
studied Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) demonstrates that
most women are characterized as emotion-dominated “Feeling”
types relying on affective processes (Carey et al., 1989), while most
males are designated as logic-dominated “Thinking” types (Ride-
out and Richardson, 1989) who evaluate experiences on the basis
of rational factors.
2.2. Gender as a moderator of the relationship between service de-
livery and customer satisfaction
Gender has been previously shown to moderate the relation-
ship between perceptions of tourism service quality and customer
satisfaction (Suki, 2014). Extant research has suggested gender
influences perceptions of service quality due to gender role so-
cialisation, decoding ability, differences in information processing,
traits, and the importance placed on core or peripheral services
(Mattila et al., 2003; Mokhlis, 2012; Sánchez-Hernández et al.,
2010). Studies of gender effects on customer perceptions of service
quality, in general, have produced somewhat conflicting results.
Snipes et al. (2006) found that male customers were more likely to
rate the fairness and quality of service higher for given services
when compared to their female counterparts, whereas Stafford
(1996) suggests service quality may be more important to women
than to men when transacting business with a bank. Spathis et al.
(2004) found that male clients of Greek banks have a more posi-
tive perception of the quality of service they receive than do wo-
men clients. Also, there are several other examples in the mar-
keting literature that indicate that female customers tend to rate
service quality lower when comparison is made for both genders
(Juwaheer, 2011; Lin et al., 2001).
The evidence on the role that gender plays in moderating the
relationships between different components of frontline employee
service delivery and customer satisfaction in a banking context is
sparse. A limited number of studies have examined such re-
lationships. For example, in a study of customers of 72 branches of
a nationwide bank in New Zealand, Yavas et al. (2007) found that
both core and relational service components were significant
predictors of customer satisfaction in the case of males and core
service only in the case of females. However, explanations of these
findings were not illustrated. Karatepe (2011), in a study of
Northern Cypriot retail bank customers, found that the positive
impact of empathy on satisfaction was higher for female custo-
mers than for male customers. In addition, the positive impact of
reliability on satisfaction was higher for female customers than for
male customers.
2.3. Gender roles in Russia
A key conclusion from our review of the literature is that
Western notions of masculinity and femininity are the basis for the
conceptualization and measurement of gender role orientations in
numerous studies. However, in a society like Russia where col-
lectivism largely remains a central cultural value with important
influences on social behaviour (Triandis, 1989), nation-level values
and ideals can shape the meaning and significance of gendered
traits and roles. However, the extensive socio-economic diversifi-
cation emblematic of the post-communist period makes it unwise
to generalise about Russian society. Thus, it would be misleading
to conclude that Russian attitudes towards gender roles is homo-
geneous. Russians in different jobs located across the country, of
different ages and ethnicities are very likely to hold varying per-
spectives, and to have had vastly different experiences during the
post-Soviet period of marketization and democratisation (White,
2005). In addition, although work and employment trends in
Russia appear to reflect contemporary western practices, the in-
fluence of Soviet conceptions of work in relation to women's
equality and self-development continue to influence generations
of women (Turbine and Riach, 2012). Therefore, in Russia one
needs to be contextually and historically sensitive to past work
practices and ideologies in attempting to theorise about the role of
gender in perceptions of frontline service delivery, satisfaction and
behavioural intentions. What follows is a series of arguments pe-
culiar to the Russian context that support what we ultimately
hypothesise.
An increased proportion of Russian women are breadwinners
in their families along with (or instead of) their husbands so under
these conditions, both the desirable and the actual distribution of
gender roles is changing (Lezhnina, 2014). Lezhnina (2014) notes
 M. Rod et al. / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 30 (2016) 212–221
that with the increasing complexity of societal relations in the
course of social modernisation in Russia, the gender roles to be
performed by any person in society multiply and become separate.
Despite the nature of relations between a man and a woman being
slow to change, transformation is occurring with further separa-
tion of these gender roles, especially in big Russian cities.
In looking at gender and perceived control in Russia, Barrett
and Buckley (2009) found that higher perceived control is linked
to greater social participation for Russian males whereas lower
perceived control and lower social participation is seen with
Russian females. One can infer that this could have an impact on
gender differences in perceptions of what is emphasised in service
encounters and in particular, that Russian female bank customers
might place less emphasis on the relational component of service
delivery and emphasise the core component as being a stronger
influence on their levels of satisfaction.
In Russia, popular and official promotion of conformity has
been coupled with a rejection of the autonomy or salience of the
individual (Cockerham et al., 2002; Triandis and Suh, 2002). Thus,
there is the argument that Russian masculinity may not embody
the individualist traits, like independence and assertiveness (Tri-
andis and Suh, 2002), that typify Western masculinity (Barrett and
White, 2002). Van Gundy et al. (2005) argue that Russians appear
to score low on traditional measures of ‘masculinity’ and that the
sex-specificity of masculine attributes, like ambition and
achievement, may be less important in Russia. They also found no
significant differences between Russian males and females in
traditional measures of ‘masculinity’ which they attribute to na-
tional differences in the social construction of appropriate gender
role orientations. Pilkington (1996, p. 9) in his book “Gender,
Generation and Identity in Contemporary Russia” refers to “the
much discussed ‘feminisation’ of men and ‘masculinisation’ of
women, for example, was blamed in part on the female domina-
tion of socializing agencies”.
Some observers contend that a traditionally established pre-
disposition, in Russia, is that women are less competent members
of a professional workforce and that this perspective is often held
by Russian women themselves (White, 2005). The view that em-
ployers considered women to be inadequate workers and that this
observation was made by women, suggests that this view has
deeply penetrated Russian society. Thus, if there is such a feeling
of professional inadequacy among females, one might expect male
customers to expect lower levels of professional core expertise in
service delivery from female frontline employees. Similarly,
Lezhnina (2014) notes that dominant patriarchal notions of the
role of women in the family and society has resulted in most
women being considered ‘second-class' workers, despite their
relatively higher levels of education” (Prokof'eva et al., 2001)
where “the traditional perception of gender relations in [ethnic]
Russian culture is linked primarily to the creation of a family and
having children” Lezhnina (2014, p. 17) not working outside of the
home in ‘paid employment’. ‘Paid employment’ requires profes-
sional core knowledge and compliance with established standards
of performance and delivery.
Tikhonova (2003) found that the majority of men do not want
their wives to work and feel that women should not have paid
employment. Thus, if men in Russia feel that women should not
have paid employment, one might expect that they will under-
value the professional core competencies in female workers, put-
ting greater emphasis on relational aspects of services when
dealing with female frontline employees. Given that the over-
whelming majority of frontline employees in the present study
were female, the expectation from male customers, and value they
assign to service quality, would predominantly consist of relational
aspects in light of a traditional female role in Russian society
geared toward family-centred purposes.
215
There are other issues related to the Russian context that
warrant consideration. A common sentiment in Russia is that
women have always spoiled Russian men. An old-standing tradi-
tion in Russia is the belief that a women's role was to serve the
man. This is exemplified in Russian folklore, where the heroine
had to fulfil the unrealistic demands of a husband, such as building
a palace, weaving a carpet, making a lake, etc. all of which had to
be done overnight while he was resting. Consistent in all of these
ancient stories is that all credit for the performed work went to the
husband, who demonstrated the outcomes to the higher authority,
usually the tsar. The woman remained in the shadow of her hus-
band and was content with her role. Both males and females still
tend to adhere to these traditional male norms in Russia (Levant
et al., 2003). Russian society is still largely dominated by a per-
sistence of many traditional stereotypes so even nowadays, Rus-
sian men feel entitled to women taking care of both their basic and
extended needs (Gorshkov and Tikhonova, 2002). This could
therefore, imply that these extended needs might be satisfied
through more relational service delivery.
In light of the above, we argue that there is plausible evidence
to suggest that Russian men and women differ in the importance
that they attribute to core and relational components of service
delivery on their satisfaction. Therefore:
H2. The relationship between core service delivery and customer
satisfaction will be stronger for female customers relative to males.
H3. The relationship between relational service delivery and
customer satisfaction will be stronger for male customers relative
to females.
3. Research method
3.1. Sample and study setting
The data collection took place in February 2011. Specifically,
data was collected from the customers of 8 branches of a large
commercial bank located in a major Russian city. The data col-
lection process was overseen and coordinated by a senior manager
responsible for the eight branches. The commercial bank serving
as the focus of the study is the largest commercial bank registered
in Saratov Region, and is among the Top Ten Banks of Povolzye
with respect to total assets. As of July 1, 2012, it had a total of 131
branches, in excess of three thousand employees, and a total
equity of 39.9 billion rubles, equivalent to US $1.3 billion. The bank
was rated first among regional banks in Russia for quality of client
service in 2008.
Prior to the launch of the survey, the research team appointed
an employee at each participating branch, and their role was to
brief their branch employees about the survey and facilitate the
survey onsite. The latter required instalment of a drop box where
customers could deposit the completed surveys. Two-hundred and
thirty customer surveys were proportionally distributed, based on
the branch size, among the eight branches of the bank. Customers
were asked to complete the survey at the branch after banking
services were rendered. The completed surveys were dropped in
the clearly marked collection box. The surveys were conducted
over a one-week period. At the end of the week, the completed
surveys from each branch were sent to the project coordinator for
counting and scanning. Scanned versions were emailed to the
researchers for analysis.
A total of 197 usable surveys were collected for a response rate
of 86%. Just over 51% of the respondents were male (n ¼101). Re-
spondents represented all age groups with 7.1% between the ages
of 18 and 24, 27.9% between the ages of 25 and 34, 35% between
216 M. Rod et al. / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 30 (2016) 212–221
the ages of 35 and 44, 22.8% between the ages of 45 and 54 and
7.1% age 55 and older. Overall 70% of respondents are between 18
and 44. This statistic was comparable across both males and fe-
males. More than 60% of the respondents had college diplomas/
degrees. This was comparable across genders. About 42% of re-
spondents held accounts in other banks. However, an over-
whelming majority (93.2%) designated the focal bank as their
principal bank. It is important to note that over 80% (82.3) of the
frontline employees engaging in service delivery were female.
78.8% of these female frontline employees were between the ages
of 18 and 44. Thus, the vast majority of service encounters involve
male and female customers dealing with female frontline
employees.
3.2. Questionnaire development and measurement
The questionnaire was initially designed in English and then
translated into Russian. The translation–back translation proce-
dures recommended by Brislin (1980) and Douglas and Craig
(2007) were followed. The questionnaire was first translated into
Russian to avoid misinterpretation and misunderstanding by a
bilingual native of Russia. The original and back-translated ver-
sions were then compared for differences and comparability.
Respondents' perceptions of frontline employees' performance
in core and relational aspects of service delivery were measured
via items adapted from Brady et al. (2002) and Yavas et al. (2007).
Core service consisted of four (e.g., reliable) and relational service
consisted of six (e.g., courteous, polite and respectful) items. Re-
spondents' assessments of the employee performance in those
areas were elicited on seven-point agree/disagree scales.
After examining various paradigms, models and modes per-
taining to satisfaction (Fournier and Mick, 1999), we measured
customer satisfaction with five items from Brady and Cronin
(2001) and Yavas et al. (2007). In each case 10-point bi-polar scales
were employed. Finally, respondents were asked to indicate the
likelihood with which they would engage in six actions (e.g.,
continued patronage, recommending). The likelihood of taking
each action was elicited on seven-point scales with anchor points
of “very likely” and “very unlikely.” Demographic data such as age
and education were also collected to use as control variables.
Prior to measurement model estimation, all items were also
subjected to an exploratory factor analysis to ensure that items
loaded onto their respective constructs. Two items measuring
behavioural intentions were discarded due to low loadings and
communality scores. The reliabilities range from .82 to .92, with all
meeting or exceeding the .70 benchmark suggested by Nunnally
(1978). Results from Harman's one-factor test (Podsakoff and Or-
gan, 1986) showed that because a single factor did not emerge and
Factor 1 did not explain most of the variance, common method
bias is unlikely to be a concern in our data.
3.3. Analytical techniques
To examine relationships between variables we utilised PLS
Graph version 3.00, a component based SEM technique (Chin,
1998). First, PLS is particularly well suited to operationalizing sa-
tisfaction and behavioural intentions models in an applied setting
(Johnson and Gustafsson, 2000). Second, PLS is more appropriate
in dealing with smaller sample sizes (as is the case with the size of
the male and female sub-samples), relative to co-variance based
methods (Qureshi and Compeau, 2009; Reinartz et al., 2004) be-
cause the iterative algorithm behind PLS estimates parameters in
only small subsets of a model during any given iteration (Whit-
taker et al., 2007; Wold, 1985). Third, PLS is also ideally suited to
the early stages of theory building and testing, and can be used
to suggest where relationships might or might not exist and to
suggest propositions for later testing (Chin, 1998). In the current
research, we propose a number of hypotheses that run counter to
established theoretical foundations. Fourth, there was strong evi-
dence of kurtosis and skewness in the data but PLS is particularly
well-suited for non-normally distributed data (Hair et al., 2013;
Vinzi et al., 2010).
Our structural model was evaluated on the basis of the R2 va-
lues for the dependent construct, the size, t-statistics and sig-
nificance level of the structural path coefficients, and the Stone–
Geisser Q-square test (Geisser, 1975; Stone, 1974) for predictive
relevance (Hair et al., 2013). Prior to these analyses, we examined
the structured model for multicollinearity by applying the com-
monly accepted cut-off value of VIF 410 or its tolerance equivalent
(Hair et al., 2006). The VIF values suggested that multicollinearity
was not present.
The same PLS path model was estimated in each of the two
gender groups. Testing differences in path coefficients across
groups requires that the latent variables are created in the same
way for all groups (Carte and Russell, 2003). Since we were using
PLS and not a covariance-based modelling approach, it was not
possible to analyse measurement model invariance by a compar-
ison of fit statistics. Instead we addressed the measurement model
invariance and variability between the two groups by using the
bootstrapping technique in PLS, which involved re-sampling the
dataset 1000 times (Efron and Tibshirani, 1993). We then com-
pared the path coefficients between the two groups by using a
parametric procedure from Chin (2009), as originally described by
Keil et al. (2000). This procedure is shown below and illustrates a
t-distribution with m þn  2 degrees of freedom.
Pathsample _ 1 − Pathsample _ 2
t= ⎡ ⎤ ⎡
where
2 (n − 1)2 ⎤
⎢ (m − 1) * S . E .2 + * S . E .2 ⎥*⎢ 1 + 1⎥
⎢⎣ (m + n − 2) sample1 (m + n − 2) sample2 ⎥ ⎣ m
⎦ n⎦
path ¼path coefficient; S.E. ¼standard error; m ¼sample 1 size and
n¼ sample 2 size. It determines a t-value with m þn  2 degrees of
freedom dependent on the standard error of the estimated path
coefficients from bootstrapping as well as the sample size (Chin
2009).
4. Results
4.1. Measurement model evaluation
4.1.1. Measurement model invariance
We first assessed whether the same measurement model held
for each gender group by analysing the measurement model in-
variance between respondents. This was undertaken using the
bootstrapping technique and the Fishers z transformation. Chin
(1998) suggests that loadings (item reliability) of 0.50 or 0.60 are
acceptable if there exist other indicators in the block for compar-
ison. Most of the loadings exceeded the more stringent threshold
of 0.707 (Barclay et al., 1995).
Table 1 summarizes the measurement model results and shows
that most individual item loadings did not differ significantly
across the two gender groups. Four items were between 0.60 and
0.70 but satisfied the Chin (1998) requirement of being greater
than 0.60. These items were retained because they were con-
ceptually relevant to the measurement of their respective con-
struct and they did not have a higher loading on any other con-
struct in the measurement model.
Table 1 also shows composite reliability (internal consistency)
and average variance extracted (AVE) scores for each construct. All
composite reliabilities were above the 0.70 acceptable threshold
(Gefen et al., 2000) and ranged from 0.87 to 0.95. AVE scores for all
 M. Rod et al. / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 30 (2016) 212–221 217

Table 1
Model validation results.

Construct name and items Female (n¼ 101) Male (n¼96)

Loading IC AVE Loading IC AVE

Core service delivery 0.89 0.67 0.87 0.64

Frontline employees of X are dependable 0.87 0.69
Frontline employees of X are competent 0.88 0.84
Frontline employees of X are reliable 0.79 0.78
Frontline employees of X are willing to provide service in a timely manner 0.71 0.87
Relational service delivery 0.93 0.96 0.91 0.59
Frontline employees of X are willing to go the extra mile to meet my needs 0.65 0.71
Frontline employees of X are knowledgeable 0.82 0.81
Frontline employees of X are courteous, polite and respectful 0.92 0.85
Frontline employees of X are trustworthy, believable and honest 0.88 0.77
Frontline employees of X are always ready to make the effort to understand my needs 0.80 0.75
Frontline employees of X are always ready to listen to me carefully 0.88 0.71
Frontline employees of X are easy to relate to 0.69 0.76
Customer satisfaction 0.94 0.76 0.95 0.79
How would you describe your feelings about your interactions with X bank?
Unhappy/happy 0.82 0.89
Displeased/pleased 0.87 0.92
Terrible/delighted 0.88 0.90
Negative/positive 0.91 0.94
Dissatisfied/satisfied 0.88 0.77
Behavioural intentions 0.90 0.69 0.89 0.68
I will continue to use the services of X bank 0.77 0.77
I will recommend the bank to others 0.67 0.88
I say good things about X bank to others 0.71 0.86
I would chose X bank if I had to choose a bank again 0.71 0.79

Note: IC: Internal consistency; AVE: average variance extracted.

constructs were above 0.50, and ranged from 0.67 to 0.96 in the 4.1.2. Structural model results
female group, from 0.59 to 0.79 in the male group. When AVE is The structural model was evaluated on the basis of the R2 va-
greater than 0.50, the variance shared with a construct and its lues for the dependent constructs, the Stone–Geisser Q-square test
measures is greater than error (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). (Geisser, 1975; Stone, 1974) for predictive relevance, and the size,
Constructs may be considered to have adequate discriminant t-statistics and significance level of the structural path coefficients.
validity if the square root of the AVE for each construct is larger The structural model explains 38.3% of the variance in customer
satisfaction for the full sample, and 42.4% in behavioural inten-
than the correlation between the construct and any other con-
tions. Falk and Miller (1992) suggest that the variance explained
struct in the model (Chin, 1998; Fornell and Larcker, 1981). As
(R2) for endogenous variables should be greater than 0.10. These
shown in Table 2, all constructs in the estimated model fulfilled
results indicate that Falk and Miller's (1992) rule of 0.10 has been
this condition of discriminant validity. Since none of the off-di- met for all of the model's endogenous variables.
agonal elements exceeded the respective diagonal element, dis- Regarding the overall quality of the research model, Tenenhaus
criminant validity was achieved. et al. (2005) have developed an overall GoF measure for PLS based
on taking the square root of the product of the variance extracted
with all constructs with multiple indicators and the average R2
value of the endogenous constructs. However, Henseler and Sar-
Table 2
stedt (2013) have recently challenged the usefulness of the GoF
Descriptive statistics and correlation among construct scores (square root of AVE in
the diagonal). both conceptually and empirically. Following the recommenda-
tions of Henseler and Sarstedt (2013) and Hair et al. (2013), we do
Male customers not apply this measure in the current study.
The Stone–Geisser test of predictive relevance was performed
1 2 3 4
to assess model fit in PLS analysis (Geisser, 1975; Stone, 1974).
1. Core service delivery 0.80 Producing omission distances of 10 and 25 produce similar results,
2. Relational service delivery 0.69 0.77 indicating that the estimates are stable. The communality Q-
3. Customer satisfaction 0.57 0.64 0.89 square was greater than 0 for all constructs suggesting that the
4. Behavioural intentions 0.41 0.54 0.66 0.82
Mean 6.68 6.61 9.10 6.58
proposed research model had good predictive ability.
SD 0.45 0.52 1.01 0.62 For the full sample, both core service delivery and relational
Female customers service delivery demonstrated a significant positive relationship
1. Core service delivery 0.82 with customer satisfaction (β ¼ 0.24, p o.05) and (β ¼0.40, p o.05)
2. Relational service delivery 0.63 0.98
respectively. Customer satisfaction also demonstrated a significant
3. Customer satisfaction 0.58 0.58 0.87
4. Behavioural intentions 0.63 0.65 0.64 0.83 positive relationship with behavioural intentions (β ¼0.65,
Mean 6.68 6.71 9.01 6.64 po .001). In order to test the role of customer satisfaction as a full
SD 0.47 0.44 1.03 0.53 mediator of the service delivery–behavioural intentions relation-
ship, we examined direct paths from core and relational service
Note: S.D. ¼Standard Deviation. The bold numbers on the diagonal are the square
root of the Average Variance Extracted. Off-diagonal elements are correlations
delivery to behavioural intentions. The results of this alternative
among constructs. There were no significant differences in the mean scores for the model showed that the direct link between core service delivery
model constructs across male and female respondents (p o.05). and behavioural intentions was not significant whereas the direct
218 M. Rod et al. / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 30 (2016) 212–221
Table 3
PLS results of the hypotheses testing.
Male¼ 101
Path t-value
Coefficient
Effects on customer
satisfaction R2 ¼ 0.42
Core service delivery  0.04 0.22ns
 2.55nn
Relational service delivery þ 0.69 2.97nn
Effects on behavioural
intentions R2 ¼ 0.45
Customer satisfaction þ 0.67 7.97nnn
Note: ns: not significant.
Alternative paths were also run from the two service delivery components and behavioural intentions. For both male and female customers, the relationship between
relational service delivery and behavioural intentions was significant (β ¼ 0.55, p o.05 in males, and β ¼ 0.41, p o .01 in females). Core service delivery exhibited no impact
on behavioural intentions across both gender groups (p 4.05).
n
po .05,
nn
p o .01,
nnn
p o.001.
link between relational service delivery and behavioural intentions
was significant β ¼ 0.41, p o.05). The indirect effect of core service
delivery on behavioural intentions was significant (β ¼.12, p o.05)
suggesting that customer satisfaction is a full mediator of the core
service delivery–behavioural intentions relationship. The indirect
effect of relational service delivery on behavioural intentions was
also significant (β ¼.20, p o.05) suggesting that customer sa-
tisfaction is a partial mediator of the relational service delivery–
behavioural intentions relationship. H1a is therefore supported
whereas partial support exists for H1b.
These main findings for the full sample were consistent with
and without the control variables in the model. There was no re-
lationship between both age and education, and scores on the
dependent variables.
The structural model results for the two subsamples are shown
in Table 3. Core service delivery demonstrated a significant positive
relationship with customer satisfaction in the female sample
(β ¼ 0.63, po.001), but a non-significant relationship in the male
sample (β ¼  0.04, p4.05). The relationship between relational
service delivery and customer satisfaction was not significant in the
female sample (β ¼0.05, p4.05) but was significant in the male
sample (β ¼0.69, po.01). Finally, customer satisfaction was a sig-
nificant predictor of behavioural intentions in both gender samples
(β ¼ 0.68, po.001 in males, and β ¼ 0.65, po.001 in females).
In light of our finding noted above that relational service de-
livery had a significant direct impact on behavioural intentions, we
also examined this direct path across the two gender groups. The
results of this alternative model were consistent with the results of
the full model. For both male and female bank customers, rela-
tional service delivery had a significant positive impact on beha-
vioural intentions (β ¼ 0.55, p o.05 in males, and β ¼0.41, p o.01
in females). In the case of male customers, the indirect effect of
relational service delivery on behavioural intentions was sig-
nificant (β ¼.39, p o.01) suggesting that customer satisfaction is a
partial mediator of the relational service delivery–behavioural
intentions relationship.
The structural model for each gender sample was also ex-
amined using the level of the R2 values. The structural model ex-
plained 41.8% of the variance in customer satisfaction in the male
group and 45.3% in the female group. The R2 value for behavioural
intentions was also similar with 44.5% variance explained in the
male group and 41.6% explained in the female group.
Differences between significant path coefficients across the two
gender were analysed using path coefficients' comparison (Chin
Female¼96 Diff in path t-value
coefficient
Path t-value
Coefficient
R2 ¼ 0.45
þ 0.63 3.76nnn  0.67
þ 0.05 0.28ns 0.64 2.14n
R2 ¼ 0.42
þ 0.65 7.90nnn 0.02 0.19ns
2009; Wilson, 2000). The explained variances and the t values for
the differences between respondents (t value diff.) using Chin's
(2009) procedure are also shown in Table 3. First, with respect to
the effect of core service delivery on customer satisfaction, the
relationship was significantly stronger for female customers
(t¼  2.55). Second, the positive relationship between relational
service delivery and customer satisfaction was significantly
stronger for male customers (t¼ 2.14). Finally, there were no sig-
nificant differences in the size of the path coefficients when
comparing the effect of customer satisfaction on behavioural
intentions.
In summary, our findings demonstrate that relational service
delivery is the key driver of customer satisfaction for male bank
customers in Russia, whereas core service delivery is the key dri-
ver of female bank customer satisfaction. Therefore, our findings
provide partial support for H2 and H3.
Although not formally hypothesised, in light of our findings
pertaining to our alternative model, we examined potential gender
differences in the relationship between relational service delivery
and behavioural intentions. There were no significant difference in
the size of the path coefficients when comparing the effect of re-
lational service delivery on behavioural intentions.
5. Discussion
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships
between male and female customer perceptions of frontline em-
ployee service delivery (core and relational) and their customer
satisfaction and behavioural intentions in a large commercial bank
in Russia. Consonant with the findings of other studies conducted
in the financial services sector, our findings indicate that customer
perceptions of frontline employee service delivery (core and re-
lational) are significant drivers of customer satisfaction (Jamal and
Naser, 2002; Lassar et al., 2000; Yavas et al., 1997). Second, our
findings corroborate the importance of customer satisfaction as a
mediator in the service delivery–behavioural intentions relation-
ship (Águila-Obra et al., 2013; Athanassopoulos et al., 2001; Car-
uana, 2002; Cronin et al., 2000; Dimitriadis and Koritos, 2014).
Third, our findings demonstrate that gender moderates relation-
ships between both core and relational service delivery and cus-
tomer satisfaction such that relational service delivery only pre-
dicts customer satisfaction for male bank customers whereas core
service delivery only predicts female bank customer satisfaction.
 M. Rod et al. / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 30 (2016) 212–221
This finding is masked when looking at the results for the full
model only. Thus, our results may also lend support to the notion
that the gender of the service provider has an impact on customer
perceptions of service quality and delivery (Fischer et al., 1997).
However, these findings run somewhat counter to what is seen in
Western, individualistic contexts where the consensus seems to be
that for female customers, the impact of relational service delivery
on customer satisfaction is stronger than for core service, whereas
for males, the impact of core service quality is stronger than for
relational service quality (Mittal and Kamakura, 2001; Noble et al.,
2006; Sun and Qu, 2011). Although partially hypothesised, in at-
tempting to further contextualise these results, we return to the
literature.
Butcher et al., (2003, p. 188) define ‘social regard’ as “the gen-
uine respect, deference, and interest shown to the customer by
service providers such that the customer feels valued or important
in the social interaction”. Since, in the present study, the vast
majority of frontline employees are female (82.3%), it can be ar-
gued that they are motivated to demonstrate higher levels of re-
lational service, not only as part of what they perceive to be male
expectations dictated by cultural norms, but perhaps too by the
demographic gender imbalance.
It would appear that in Russia it is in female frontline em-
ployees' interest to render more personalised services in order to
attract male attention and increase their customer satisfaction,
thus a female frontline employee might be more personable with a
male customer than with a female customer. The fact that the
satisfaction of female customers of the bank was only influenced
by core service delivery and not relational can be interpreted by
their initial expectation created by prior experiences. Based on our
cited literature from Russia, there is no preconceived incentive for
the female employees to go beyond “core” service delivery to drive
female customer satisfaction. However, our findings also suggest
that in order to foster higher loyalty and positive word-of-mouth
with female bank customers, female frontline employees should go
beyond core service delivery and augment their interactions with
female customers. In Russia, our findings suggest that dor female
bank customers, the ‘what’ determines customer satisfaction (af-
fect) whereas the ‘how’ impacts loyalty and positive word of
mouth (behavioural intentions). In contrast, for Russian male bank
customers, the ‘how’ drives both customer satisfaction and beha-
vioural intentions, whereas the ‘what’ has no impact.
Another possible explanation for our findings is that Russian
men “appear to be among the most unhealthy and unhappy male
populations in that region of the globe” (Janey, 2013, p. 138). This
is consistent with overall higher depression symptoms in Russia
compared to other Eastern European countries (Bobak et al., 2006)
and the limited availability of treatment (Health, 2010, Pakriev,
2009). In Trofimova's (2013) gender study of sex differences in
semantic perception, Russian men assign dramatic, extreme and
often negative meaning to neutral objects more than do Russian
women, which contradicts Western findings. With this in mind,
we can suggest that male bank customers intuitively will be drawn
to relational, more customer-centred service, as a means to satisfy
their emotional needs; at least where the majority of frontline
employees are female.
Notwithstanding our acknowledgement of Fischer et al. (1997)
illustration of service provider gender influencing customer per-
ceptions of service quality and delivery, our explanations above
highlight the idea that in Russia, people's notions about the norms
and rules governing male and female behaviour are determined
more by culture than by gender and that in Russian tradition, the
values of suffering and sacrifice are more prevalent than in the
Western tradition where specific deeds that produce results are
valued (Mitina and Petrenko, 2001).
219
6. Managerial implications
Besides adding to the literature on gender differences in cus-
tomer perceptions of service delivery and service delivery out-
comes in a non-Western, non-individualist context, our study can
also yield implications for Russian retail bank managers. Thus, a
foremost implication of our study is that to induce greater custo-
mer satisfaction, delivery of core service in a competent manner is
a must for female customers. This means that the bank manage-
ment must take the necessary steps to equip their frontline em-
ployees with the requisite knowledge and tools to provide core
services right the first time they are delivered. Additionally, given
the study findings that relational aspects of service delivery are
related to satisfaction for only male customers, bank management
should make every conceivable effort to include interpersonal
skills training in their overall training programs. It behoves Rus-
sian bank managers to recognise that they have two distinct seg-
ments of customers in terms of how they differentially prioritise
the two components of service delivery (core and relational). This
entails ensuring that frontline employees have the requisite skill
base to deliver tailored services to these two gender segments i.e.
they appropriately deliver both the ‘what’ and the ‘how’.
7. Limitations and future research
In closing, it should be noted that although this study expands
our knowledge of the relationships between customer perceptions
of the components of frontline employee service delivery and,
satisfaction and behavioural intentions, viable prospects for fur-
ther research remain. For future research, it would be interesting
to examine from the female frontline employee perspective,
whether there is a greater intentional emphasis put on relational
aspects of service while dealing with male vs. female customers.
This study was conducted among customers of one bank. This may
limit generalisations. Replications among customers of different
banks in Russia would be illuminating – especially in comparing
private versus state-owned. Also, the findings of this study are
context-specific. Hence, future research should investigate the
same questions in other service domains to cross-validate the
present findings and determine to what extent they converge or
diverge with results in other sectors.
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