Date of Award
6-1992
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Psychology
Abstract
A multiple-baseline across-restaurants design was used to assess the effectiveness of a quality guarantee (performance checklist) on the quality of food served at two carryout pizza restaurants in a Midwestern city of approximately 100,000 people. The research consisted of having the quality of food monitored by research assistants who served as mystery shoppers trained in the quality standards of the restaurants. Quality was monitored during baseline, when normal operating procedures were in effect at the restaurant, and during intervention, when employees who delivered food to customers were required to sign a quality guarantee. In one intervention phase, employees checked off the quality guarantee if the order met quality standards, and the store's performance was graphed and posted for the employees to review. In a second intervention phase, employees signed their names to quality guarantees if the order met quality standards. In both cases, the quality guarantees (performance checklists) were designed to help the workers with the monitoring of the quality of food being delivered to customers. Both types of quality guarantees were equally effective in improving quality over baseline with no noticeable difference between the two types of quality guarantees. These results are discussed in terms of reactivity to self-monitoring.
Access Setting
Dissertation-Open Access
Recommended Citation
McDonough, John Patrick III, "Improving Service Quality Through Self-Monitoring" (1992). Dissertations. 1978.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/1978