The effects of specific job satisfaction facets on customer perceptions of service quality: an employee-level analysis

Previous research has shown that employee job satisfaction is a relevant factor in service quality improvement. Employees who feel satisfied with their jobs provide higher levels of customer satisfaction. This study contributes to the current body of work in this area by investigating the responses from 351 employees and their 8667 customers from one service industry (higher education) to determine which specific facets of employee job satisfaction have the largest effect on customer perceptions of service quality. The uniqueness of this study is in its design. Most other studies of this type have analyzed organization-level data, while this study employs employee-level data. The study model also includes an unprecedented analysis of the effects of specific facets of job satisfaction on customer perceptions of service quality. Results suggest that certain job satisfaction facets may have a larger effect on service quality than others. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.