The impact of CSR-linked sport sponsorship on consumers’ reactions to service failures

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daehwan Kim ◽  
Yongjae Ko ◽  
J. Lucy Lee ◽  
Yong Cheol Kim
Keyword(s):  
Attribution Theory ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Halo Effect ◽  
Sport Sponsorship ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Repurchase Intentions ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Drawing on the corporate association framework and attribution theory, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the shield effects of CSR-linked sport sponsorship on consumer attitudes toward a sponsor, attribution patterns in a sponsor’s service failure and repurchase intentions and second, to investigate the halo effect of CSR-linked sport sponsorship on corporate ability (CA) associations and the relationship between CA associations and consequential variables in the context of service failure. Design/methodology/approach A scenario-based two-factor (sponsorship types: baseline vs sport sponsorship vs CSR-linked sport sponsorship × service failure types: flight delay vs cancellation) experimental design was employed. Findings The results indicate that CSR-linked sport sponsorship outperforms non-CSR sport sponsorship in forming CSR association and developing CA association. Both CSR and CA associations are found to positively influence the consumer’s attitude toward a service provider. Consumers with positive attitudes attribute the sponsor’s service failure to external factors, leading to repurchase intention after a service failure. Originality/value This study connects two fields of research, service failure and sport sponsorship, thereby providing evidence on how CSR-linked sport sponsorship can play a shield role in the context of service failure and whether CSR-linked sport sponsorship can be a proactive strategy for service providers in industries where service failures are inevitable. Additionally, this study provides empirical evidence on whether CSR-linked sponsorship can lead consumers to perceive service quality as “doing right leads to doing well” by creating a halo effect.

scholarly journals Robots or frontline employees? Exploring customers’ attributions of responsibility and stability after service failure or success

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-289
Author(s):  
Daniel Belanche ◽  
Luis V. Casaló ◽  
Carlos Flavián ◽  
Jeroen Schepers
Keyword(s):  
Attribution Theory ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Attributions Of Responsibility ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Artificial Intelligence Technology

PurposeService robots are taking over the organizational frontline. Despite a recent surge in studies on this topic, extant works are predominantly conceptual in nature. The purpose of this paper is to provide valuable empirical insights by building on the attribution theory.Design/methodology/approachTwo vignette-based experimental studies were employed. Data were collected from US respondents who were randomly assigned to scenarios focusing on a hotel’s reception service and restaurant’s waiter service.FindingsResults indicate that respondents make stronger attributions of responsibility for the service performance toward humans than toward robots, especially when a service failure occurs. Customers thus attribute responsibility to the firm rather than the frontline robot. Interestingly, the perceived stability of the performance is greater when the service is conducted by a robot than by an employee. This implies that customers expect employees to shape up after a poor service encounter but expect little improvement in robots’ performance over time.Practical implicationsRobots are perceived to be more representative of a firm than employees. To avoid harmful customer attributions, service providers should clearly communicate to customers that frontline robots pack sophisticated analytical, rather than simple mechanical, artificial intelligence technology that explicitly learns from service failures.Originality/valueCustomer responses to frontline robots have remained largely unexplored. This paper is the first to explore the attributions that customers make when they experience robots in the frontline.

The role of collective angst during and after a service failure

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amro A. Maher ◽  
Rana Sobh
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Service Failure And Recovery ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Viability ◽  
The Impact

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.

Others service experiences: emotions, perceived justice, and behavior

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 552-571 ◽  
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.

Would compensation be necessary? The importance of service recovery strategy in e-retail delivery problems

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erlinda Nusron Yunus
Keyword(s):  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Recovery Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Repurchase Intentions ◽  
Subsequent Test ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Recovery Strategies ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study examines the different effects of service recovery strategies on customers' future intentions when online shoppers were experiencing delivery failures. Two types of problem severity are evaluated: wrong-product delivery (issues with the product quality or quantity) and late delivery. This study also investigates the impact of service criticality on the relationship between service recovery strategies and customers' future intentions.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs experimental research with 123 online shoppers as participants. Following the results, a subsequent test is conducted to examine the effect of participants' demographics on future intentions. Finally, the current study elaborates the findings using qualitative research, interviewing both sides impacted by the service failures: online shoppers and e-retail managers.FindingsThe findings show that complementing product replacement with monetary compensation is the most effective strategy to improve repurchase intention after a dissatisfaction moment. This effect is indifferent to service criticality and severity. Age influences the participants' repurchase intentions, in which younger people are less tolerant of service failures. In contrast, gender and education level do not provide any differences. To prevent delivery failures, managers participating in this study suggest several best practices regarding systems and infrastructure, people and coordination and collaboration with logistics partners.Research limitations/implicationsThe study mainly examines a limited type of service and service failures. Further studies are encouraged to expand the variables and scenarios, as well as to employ more distinctive methods, to enrich the findings related to recovery strategy in the e-commerce industry.Practical implicationsGiven proper compensation, service failure could create momentum for online retailers to boost customer loyalty. This study suggests that managers design the most effective service recovery to win customers back to the business.Originality/valueThis paper enriches the literature related to a service recovery strategy, particularly within the online shopping context.

When service providers fail: outsourcing help and consumer attitudes

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 22-30
Author(s):  
Aaron Gazley ◽  
Hamish Simmonds
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Ethnocentrism ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Delivery Channel

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of outsourcing and offshoring on brand loyalty in a service recovery context. In addition, the effect that consumer ethnocentrism has on these relationships is examined. Design/methodology/approach An experiment was designed using a series of service recovery scenarios that manipulated whether the recovery effort was conducted by an in-house/outsourced or local/offshored party. Findings The study shows that while outsourcing service recovery within the home country has no effect on loyalty, outsourcing to an offshore location does. In addition, the effect of offshoring of loyalty is greater for consumers who hold ethnocentric tendencies. Practical implications This research suggests the need to consider the delivery channel of service recovery to recover a service failure and retain customer loyalty. The results show that outsourcing within a local country may be effective, but the risks associated with offshoring are much greater. Originality/value Despite previous attempts to understand outsourcing and offshoring in a range of service scenarios, their role in service recovery is not well understood. Similarly, the impact that ethnocentrism might have on this process is overlooked. This paper therefore responds to calls within business theory, practice and consults for further study in this under-researched area.

Is consumer forgiveness possible?

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1567-1587 ◽  
Author(s):  
JungYun (Christine) Hur ◽  
SooCheong (Shawn) Jang
Keyword(s):  
Service Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Recovery Strategies ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Hotel Managers

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how consumer forgiveness is formed by examining rumination and distraction by consumers in hotel service failures.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a self-administered questionnaire in the USA. A total of 371 usable responses were obtained. Anderson and Gerbing’s two-step approach was used to assess the measurement and structural models.FindingsThis study suggests that rumination and distraction play significant roles in processing consumer forgiveness. Self-focused rumination and distraction increase consumer forgiveness, whereas provocation-focused rumination exacerbates the negative effects of service failure severity on consumer forgiveness. This study also shows that gender differences exist. Men were more likely than women to link self-focused rumination and distraction to their intentions to forgive a service provider.Practical implicationsThis study is helpful for hotel managers to understand the mechanisms of consumer forgiveness in service failures and develop effective recovery strategies. Managers should aim to lessen consumers’ provocation-focused rumination while encouraging self-focused rumination and distraction. In addition, because of the differences in the process of consumer forgiveness between men and women, it is critical to differentiate the two groups in designing targeted recovery strategies for service failures.Originality/valueThis study investigates consumer forgiveness as a behavioral outcome following service failures that may help consumers achieve psychological balance and allow service providers a chance to restore the broken relationship. This study adds new information for understanding consumer responses and provides a basis for effective service management strategies.

Are tattoos still a taboo?

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 874-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Ozanne ◽  
Michael J. Tews ◽  
Anna S. Mattila
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Mediation Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Perceptions ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Aesthetic Labor ◽  
Agency And Communion ◽  
Failure Scenario ◽  
The Impact

PurposeAs tattoos increase in popularity, questions persist regarding their impact on customer perceptions. To help shed light into this issue, this paper aims to explore the impact of tattooed restaurant servers in the context of service failures. Through the agency and communion theory, the authors propose that a female server with tattoos induces higher levels of negative word of mouth (WOM) intention than her male counterpart. Furthermore, the authors propose that perceived competence mediates this effect.Design/methodology/approachThrough a 2 (tattoos status: yes, no) × 2 (server’s gender: male, female) experimental design, a panel of consumers were exposed to a restaurant service failure scenario with a photograph of a server. Depending on the condition, the server was either a male or female and had (or not) a tattoo on their left arm and neck. The same tattoo design was used for both genders.FindingsThe findings indicate that, in a service failure context, customers’ propensity to generate negative WOM does not differ across tattooed (vs non-tattooed) servers. However, contrary to the expectations of the authors, people tend to react more negatively to a male (vs female) server with tattoos.Originality/valueResearch on tattoos in the customer service context is scant, especially in hospitality. Furthermore, no previous study on tattoos has empirically tested a mediation process explaining differences in customer perceptions. Contrary to previous findings, this study demonstrates that an exposure to male (vs female) tattooed servers increases customers’ propensity to generate negative WOM. In other words, the type of profession coupled with the employees’ gender might influence customer perceptions. Furthermore, as customers’ propensity to generate negative WOM did not increase when served by a tattooed (vs non-tattooed) employee, managers in aesthetic labor industries, such as the foodservice business, can be more accepting of employees with tattoos.

When service failure leads to sin

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yit Sean Chong ◽  
Pervaiz K. Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Recovery Strategies ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the notion of “service transgression” which violates customers’ religious beliefs through observing certain dietary guidelines that shape their religious identity. While service transgression and customer forgiveness are predominantly examined using experimental procedures or questionnaire survey in existing studies, this study adopts an interpretive paradigm to explore the complexities and idiosyncratic narratives of individual perceptions. Design/methodology/approach Detailed narrative accounts of 15 participants consisting of five Muslims, five Buddhists and five Hindus; who are working adults residing in Malaysia were gathered via in-depth interviews. Critical incident technique was employed with interpretive approach being undertaken to uncover key themes that form the essence of experiences in service transgressions. Findings The responses from participants were mainly contingent to the individuals’ interpretations of their religious expectations in the assessment of the incidents. Observations from the interview protocols reveal common themes in the consideration of whether one has indeed transgressed against the religious norms, the assignment of blame and responsibility and reparation of relationships. From the findings of this study, the authors developed a typology of conflict framing categories: “damaged identity”, “identity at risk” and “identity preservation” by considering both dyadic and triadic service relationships in service failure incidents which involve a violation of customers’ religious belief systems. Practical implications The outcome of this study seeks to inform service providers on the impact of service transgression of this nature upon consumers particularly in a multi-faith society. Additionally, this study provides insights into the implementation of service recovery strategies if and when such situation arises. Originality/value By undertaking a narrative enquiry, this study uncovers personal sense making in this phenomenon within the contextual frame of societal and historical norms. The outcome of this study provides insights to service providers on the impact of service transgression upon consumers particularly in a multi-faith context such as Malaysia. Additionally, this study discusses managerial implications associated with the implementation of service recovery strategies if and when such situation arises.

Negative emotions in Mexican, Puerto Rican and Spanish hospitals

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-37
Author(s):  
Carmen Otero-Neira ◽  
Carmen Padin ◽  
Juan Carlos Sosa Varela ◽  
Maria Santos Corrada ◽  
Irma Magana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Critical Incidents ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Failures

Purpose – This paper aims to assess negative emotions in Mexican, Puerto Rican and Spanish service settings in the hospital industry. The paper also attempts to validate previous findings in existing theory and previous studies across three national samples and describes the similarities and differences in negative emotions between Mexican, Puerto Rican and Spanish service settings. Design/methodology/approach – The current study comprised Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Spaniards who experienced a service failure (i.e. critical incident) in hospital settings within the past year. A descriptive research design was followed, and a self-administered questionnaire was applied to gather the data from respondents. Findings – The three-dimensional construct of negative emotions commonly identified in existing theory and previous studies of negative emotions turned out to be four in the current multinational study. Research limitations/implications – The four-dimensional construct of negative emotions thus revealed is relevant and valuable to research. A number of research limitations are provided, all of which provide opportunities for further research in assessing negative emotions in service settings. Practical implications – Service providers need to manage and deal with the negative emotions in service failures in an appropriate manner. It is necessary that the front-line staff identify and understand the reasons behind service receiver’s negative emotions in service failures, and that they act accordingly to reduce the intensity of critical incidents and the overall negative consequences. Originality/value – The negative emotions assessed provide a fruitful contribution and do not only complement additional facets to existing theory and previous studies of negative emotions in service settings but also fortify the notion that further research is required to gain an enhanced understanding and additional insights into them across countries and cultures, just as it is crucial to manage the occurrence of negative emotions in critical incidents accurately.

Service recovery satisfaction in offline and online experiences

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Raphael Odoom ◽  
George Cudjoe Agbemabiese ◽  
Robert E. Hinson
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Service Failure And Recovery ◽  
Recovery Strategies ◽  
Recovery Satisfaction ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
Service Managers

Purpose Given that the peculiar nature of the internet has introduced new dimensions of service delivery as well as new dimensions of service failures and recovery, the purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the relationships between recovery strategies and recovery satisfaction within offline and online settings. Design/methodology/approach Data for the empirical tests of our hypotheses were collected via offline and online (specifically Facebook and Twitter) samples of customers who have experienced some form of service failure and recovery measures from service providers within the past year. Findings The results indicate that recovery strategies largely influence recovery satisfaction among aggrieved customers. However, these are conditional and not invariant across the two settings. In the authors’ offline setting, in particular, apology did not show a statistically significant impact on recovery satisfaction, even though, along with compensation and explanation, this relationship was significant among the online sample. Originality/value The study offers practical implications for service managers within emerging economies on the various conditions where they can maximise their service recovery efforts (both offline and online) to generate optimum recovery satisfaction.

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