Perceptions of service quality: what's fun got to do with it?

While incorporating fun into healthcare work environments to improve productivity, employee satisfaction, and patient satisfaction has been gaining attention since the release of the popular Fish! books (e.g., Lundin, Christensen, Paul, & Strand, 2002), no empirical research has been conducted examining customer/client reactions to witnessing the use of such fun activities. Using a 2 x 2 x 2 experimental scenario-based study, this research evaluated the impact of 3 independent variables (attentiveness to the customer, customer waiting time, and level of fun) on the dependent variables of perceived service quality and intent to return, refer, and complain.