Will a smiling worker make a distinction in a service conveyance, and do men and ladies assess emotional signals differently in a practical service experience setting? The literature suggests a supportive emotional presentation of consumer reactions to service experiences, but the effect on these evaluations of sexual orientation (gender) remains hazy. The main aim of this analysis was to evaluate the interceding effect of customer satisfaction on the relationship between quality of service experience and patient experience loyalty, as well as the directing role of sexual orientation (gender) in driving such impact. The study was anchored on the service encounter needs theory with literature from preceding studies used to develop a conceptual model and hypotheses which were tested using statistical techniques. The study employed a path-modelling analysis approach with a cross-sectional research design. Sampling was done via census sampling technique and a sample of (562) hospital out-patients from four leading private hospitals in Ghana drawn and used in the study. The results showed that the influence of service encounter quality on patient loyalty was partially mediated by patient satisfaction (ß = 0.116; t-value = 1.956; p= 0.051) and that there was a direct relationship between service encounter quality and customer satisfaction (ß = 0.825; t-value = 20.092; p= 0.000) moderated by the gender of the patients (ß = 0.300; t-value = 4.954; p= 0.000). Patients expect that a service is performed right without errors the very first time its encountered, therefore, the hospital management must ensure their staff are competent and that other facilities that enhance patients experience during it service delivery do meet the patient’s expectations. It’s recommended that policy makers and management of private hospitals in Ghana should improve on service encounter quality and actively pay attention to patients’ expectations especially with their gender as a factor. Future research can moreover be coordinated at the consideration of other varied components; age, education, salary, conjugal status, occupation etc. in one integrated study in an attempt to offer additional enlightenment and explanations in regards to the quality of service encounters, patients’ expectations, perceptions and satisfaction in the hospital sub-sector.
Service Encounter Quality (SEQ), Gender, Patient Satisfaction, Patient Loyalty, Healthcare Delivery
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