Contact personnel, physical environment and the perceived corporate image of intangible services by new clients

The purpose of this article is to evaluate empirically the impact of contact personnel and physical environment on the perception of corporate image by new clients by using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis capable of exploring the potential presence of higher order and interaction terms. With data collected in two service industries, namely 272 new clients of a life insurance company and 238 travellers in a hotel, a linear relationship with corporate image was statistically confirmed for contact personnel, while a potential curvilinear relationship was found for physical environment. The results reveal the significant effect of both contact personnel and physical environment, as well as their interactive effects on corporate image. The managerial and research implications of the reported study are discussed.