The Impact of Service Failure and Recovery on Target and Observing Customers: A Comparative Study

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the role of collective angst, the concern about the future viability of one’s group, during service failure and recovery. Design/methodology/approach – To test this objective the authors utilize an experiment to examine how Kuwaitis react to service failures when the front-line employee is a foreigner. Findings – The results indicate that collective angst is associated with greater anger following a service failure. The authors also find that collective angst moderates the impact of cultural distance on anger and recommendation intentions following a service-failure recovery attempt. More specifically, cultural distance leads to greater anger and lower intentions to recommend a service establishment for consumers that experience greater collective angst. Originality/value – The research provides the first attempt at examining how local consumers react to foreigner service providers, by examining how concern about the future vitality of one’s national group, in other words collective angst, affects such reactions.

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Others service experiences: emotions, perceived justice, and behavior

European Journal of Marketing ◽

10.1108/ejm-04-2012-0201 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 48 (3/4) ◽

pp. 552-571 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Anna Mattila ◽

Lydia Hanks ◽

Chenya Wang

Keyword(s):

Service Providers ◽

Service Failure ◽

Content Type ◽

Theory Of Justice ◽

Service Failures ◽

Service Failure And Recovery ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Impact ◽

Service Experiences

Purpose – Often, service failures are witnessed by other customers, but little is known about how consumers react to service recovery aimed at other customers. Using the deontic theory of justice, this paper aims to examine consumers' reactions to justice directed toward other customers. Design/methodology/approach – Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. Both were 2 x 2 between subjects quasi experimental designs using written scenarios and surveys. The scenarios depicted an observing customer witnessing a service failure and recovery happening to another customer. Findings – Results show that the valence of the recovery attempt impacted the observing customer's reactions and evaluations, and that the observer's processing frame and loyalty status of the victim impacted the observing customer's judgments of fairness and behavioral intentions. Originality/value – These results provide guidance to service providers by shedding light on the impact of service failures and recovery on surrounding customers.

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AIRLINE SERVICE FAILURE AND RECOVERY: THE IMPACT OF RELATIONSHIP FACTORS ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Journal of Air Transport Studies ◽

10.38008/jats.v7i2.48 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 57-70

Author(s):

Chi-Ruey Jeng

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Service Failure ◽

Service Recovery ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Subjective Perception ◽

Flight Delays ◽

Subjective Perceptions ◽

Service Failure And Recovery ◽

Flight Delay ◽

The Impact

In aviation industries, service failure during the service delivery process is foreseeable and leads to passenger complaints, which therefore presents the perfect opportunity for airlines to improve their service process and quality and examine their internal organization. Concurrently, the quality of the service recovery measures reflects the ability of airlines to respond to and handle traveler complaints. By rectifying service failures, airlines can enhance traveler satisfaction toward airlines services, thereby generating loyal customers who would engage in word-of-mouth marketing. This study aims to do examine the relationship between service failure, service recovery and passenger’s satisfaction with service recovery types, employee prompt handling, and service recovery efficiency. The questionnaires used in this study consisted of three sections: (1) Customers’ perception of the service recovery types; this section entails using passengers’ subjective perceptions to evaluate the service recovery types adopted by the airlines when handling flight delay situations. (2) Customers’ perception of the airlines employee’s prompt handling; the traveler’s subjective perception to evaluate the airlines employees’ direct responses to flight delays. (3) Customers’ perception of the problem-solving efficiency; this section involves using the passengers’ subjective perception to evaluate the overall flight delay recovery progress. The traveler characteristics were divided into ‘passenger attributes’ and ‘traveling attributes’ and their relationships with service recovery types, employee’s prompt handling, and problem solving efficiency were examined. The research results showed that passenger attributes demonstrated no significant differences with the three dimensions (i.e., service recovery types, employee’s prompt handling, and problem solving efficiency). However, concerning traveling attributes, ‘purpose of travel’ and ‘flight delay experience’ demonstrated significant differences with the threedimensions.

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#IHateYourBrand: adaptive service recovery strategies on Twitter

Journal of Services Marketing ◽

10.1108/jsm-02-2016-0079 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 281-294 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Alexandra K. Abney ◽

Mark J. Pelletier ◽

Toni-Rochelle S. Ford ◽

Alisha B. Horky

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Service Failure ◽

Service Recovery ◽

Academic Research ◽

Unique Challenge ◽

Content Type ◽

Service Failure And Recovery ◽

Recovery Strategies ◽

Use Of Social Media ◽

The Impact

Purpose Social networks offer consumers the ability to voice their opinions of brands in a real-time, public setting. This represents a unique challenge for firms as brand managers must develop new strategies for properly communicating with consumers, especially in the event of a service failure. The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of various adaptive service recovery strategies via social media, specifically Twitter. Design/methodology/approach Through a series of experimental manipulations, four service recovery strategies are tested alongside two variations of consumer complaint tweets. The service recovery responses vary in their degree of adaptiveness, which have differential impacts on numerous consumer outcome variables. Findings The findings indicate that highly adaptive recoveries responses positively impact consumers’ evaluations of service recovery satisfaction, leading to greater consumer behavioral intentions. Additionally, the type of tweet the consumer sends may further reveal their expectations for adequate service recovery responses. Originality/value This study is the first to empirically test the use of social media platforms in the service failure and recovery context. Although social media is commonly used for such purposes by practitioners, academic research up to this point has predominately focused on social media for generating word-of-mouth. Further, this study seeks to examine how service adaptability is perceived from the customer perspective, as opposed to the more traditional employee viewpoint.

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