Abstract
- Historically, retailers have dedicated an abundance of resources in the pursuit of customer satisfaction and its corresponding favorable consequences. However, research indicates that customer satisfaction may not necessarily result in the outcomes pursued. This manuscript focuses on the concept of customer delight and explores antecedents and consequences of interest to retail practitioners. More specifically, the proposed model explores the linkages of employee effort, employee expertise, and the retailer’s tangibles to customer surprise and joy which in turn lead to customer delight and subsequent revenue measures. Results from this study yield new insights into the dual pathways leading to customer delight and provide meaningful implications for retail managers.