Competence and Benevolence of Contact Personnel in the Perceived Corporate Reputation: An Empirical Study in Financial Services

Abstract

In the context of service management, contact personnel are considered as a crucial element that determines the success of the service delivery process. From the perspective of marketing relationship, the performance of contact personnel helps to attract target groups and define corporate reputation. The purpose of the present study is to assess, within the services industry, the main effect of two predominant characteristics of contact personnel, namely competence and benevolence, as well as their interactive effects on the perception of the reputation of service firms, particularly from the point of view of clients. With data collected from 445 customers in a financial service setting, the results of this study reveal that the perception of corporate reputation has a tendency to be higher when perceptions of both competence and benevolence are strongly favourable. The results suggest that benevolence intervenes as a moderator variable to enhance the impact of competence on corporate reputation. The implications of the study are discussed from both the research and managerial perspectives.