Service Provider Policy Benevolence

What it measures

Three items assess whether a customer believes a service provider's policies respect and prioritise customer interests — including fair treatment and acting as if the customer is always right. Developed to capture the policy-level dimension of service provider benevolence.

Response format

5-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree)

Scale items

• has policies that indicate respect for the customer.
• has policies that favor the customer's best interest.
• acts as if the customer is always right.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Alphas of .90 (retail) and .86 (airline). Part of a three-factor trust model developed via focus groups and in-depth interviews, capturing managerial policies, frontline employee behaviours, and infrastructure. Items are sentence fragments completing a stem such as 'This [service provider]...'. The generic name for the type of service provider should be placed in the blanks. CFA supported the measurement model. Companion scale: Service Employee Benevolence (ID 1061).

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Sirdeshmukh, D., Singh, J., & Sabol, B. (2002). Consumer trust, value, and loyalty in relational exchanges. Journal of Marketing, 66(January), 15–37.

Keywords