Because services are inherently intangible and characterizedby inseparability (Bateson 1989; Lovelock 1981; Shostack1977), the interpersonal interactions that take place duringservice delivery often have the greatest effect on servicequality perceptions (Bitner, Booms, and Mohr 1994; Bowenand Schneider 1985; Grönroos 1982; Hartline and Ferrell1996; Surprenant and Solomon 1987). These interactionshave been identified as the employee–customer interface(Hartline and Ferrell 1996) and the key element in a serviceexchange (Czepiel 1990). Their significance is captured inSurprenant and Solomon’s (1987) suggestion that servicequality is more the result of processes than outcomes. Therefore, there is strong support in the literature for including aninteraction dimension in the conceptualization of perceivedservice quality