Date of Award

4-2006

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Bradley E. Huitema

Second Advisor

Dr. Alyce Dickinson

Third Advisor

Dr. Heather McGee

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

The quality of service received by a customer affects their satisfaction with the organization. To increase the probability that customers will return to an organization, it is critical that customers are satisfied with the organization's services. The amount of time customers spend waiting in line can affect their satisfaction with an organization's services (Gail & Lucey, 1997). This study examined the effects of a single intervention versus a combined intervention package to reduce wait times in a hospital's outpatient pharmacy. Customer satisfaction ratings were collected to determine the effect of a reduction in wait time on customer service satisfaction with wait time. An ABCB within-subjects design was used to assess both wait time and customers' levels of satisfaction with their wait time, where A = Baseline (no feedback and no goal setting), B = Customer Satisfaction Feedback, and C = Customer Satisfaction Feedback, Wait Time Feedback, and Goal Setting for Wait Time Reduction. Results show small to moderate reductions in wait time during intervention phases. Reduction in wait time had little effect on customers' levels of satisfaction with wait time. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed, focusing on highly-variable environments.

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