THE ROLE OF PERSONALITY TRAITS IN ONLINE CONSUMER COMPLAINT BEHAVIOR AND SERVICE RECOVERY EXPECTATION

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 1223-1232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen-Hung Huang ◽  
Chiao-Chen Chang

To date, the literature on service failure and recovery has tended to be focused on bricks-and-mortar stores. In this study the relationships among service failures, consumer complaint behaviors, and service recovery expectations in an online setting were investigated. Data were collected from 252 respondents in a questionnaire survey. Results of multiple regression analysis show that personality traits in terms of Type A and locus of control may moderate the relationships among e-service failures, consumer complaint behaviors, and service recovery expectations. When e-service failures occur, Type A and internally oriented consumers engage in aggressive complaint behaviors and expect high service recovery efforts. Conversely, Type B and externally oriented consumers tend to tolerate e-service failures and refrain from complaining. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Raphael Odoom ◽  
George Cudjoe Agbemabiese ◽  
Robert E. Hinson

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.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hardeep Chahal ◽  
Pinkey Devi

Purpose – This paper aims to explore consumer attitude towards service failure and recovery in the higher education in general and with respect to teaching, examination, library, computer lab, administration and infrastructure in particular. Design/methodology/approach – The data are collected from 120 students of three undergraduate colleges of University of Jammu using purposive sampling. Findings – The findings reveal that all recovery efforts pertaining to teaching, examination, library, computer lab, administration and infrastructure are significant in overcoming the respective service failures. Research limitations/implications – The present study is limited to address service failure and service recovery relationship with respect to teaching, examination, library, computer lab, administration and infrastructure and limited to three undergraduate colleges operating in Jammu city only. The sample of the study is small which needs to be considered before generalizing the results. Originality/value – This study makes a maiden attempt to identify service failure issues with respect to teaching, examination, library, computer lab, administration and infrastructure using quantitative methodology in higher education and role of service recovery strategies in monitoring and reducing service failure.


2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Kruger ◽  
P. G. Mostert

With the first-time cell phone user market quickly shrinking, it is becoming increasingly important for South African cell phone network providers to retain customers by building long-term relationships with them and consistently offering quality service. Despite cell phone network providers' best intentions, service failures do occur. Not all customers want to build relationships with cell phone network providers, and therefore it is important to consider the influence of customers' relationship intentions within a service failure and recovery setting. The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of relationship intention on expectations and perceptions of two service recovery scenarios within the cell phone industry. Non-probability convenience sampling was used to collect data from 605 cell phone users residing in Gauteng. Results indicate that as respondents' relationship intentions increase, so do their expectations that their cell phone network providers should take service recovery action. It was also found that respondents with high and moderate relationship intentions perceived service recovery strategies of their cell phone network providers including an acknowledgement, apology, explanation and rectification of the problem more favourable, compared to a service recovery strategy only rectifying the problem, than those respondents with low relationship intentions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung Hyun Lee

Purpose The ongoing challenge for hospitality firms is not to avoid service failures completely but rather to find effective ways of recovering from them. The purpose of this paper is to adopt conjoint analysis to examine guest preferences for service recovery actions that are taken simultaneously and the effect of such actions in the context of hotels in order to seek answers to the following research questions: what type of compensation bundle is most preferred by guests? and How effective are compensations in terms of recovery satisfaction, especially with regard to subsequent behavioral intentions? Design/methodology/approach In order to study guest preferences for compensation, choice-based conjoint (CBC) experiments were used. The CBC survey method involves presenting respondents with several hypothetical scenarios that include numerous combinations of compensation attributes. The survey sample was recruited through web-based panels run by a marketing firm. The online survey was designed and built in the Sawtooth Software platform. Conjoint analysis was carried out. Findings The conjoint analysis results show that among the different compensation attributes, consumers preferred discounts the most, followed by corrective actions and loyalty points. Among the discount levels, consumers favored “free one night certificate for a future stay” over “100 percent off one night’s room bill.” Regarding loyalty points, consumers desire more points than fewer points. In terms of correction levels, consumers appear to desire an “upgrade to a suite” over just moving to another room or having the original room cleaned. Moreover, consumers prefer that service recovery be handled by upper-level management. Research limitations/implications Several limitations should be discussed. For example, the type of service failure studied was limited to a booked room not being clean upon check-in. Different types and magnitudes of service failures may result in a different set of preferences for compensation bundles. In addition, the compensation attributes and levels were limited in scope even though they were obtained from interviews with managers at midsize hotels. Other attributes and attribute levels can be included in future studies. Originality/value Although an abundant number of studies have been done regarding service failure and recovery, the extent to which service recovery needs to be carried out before it translates into actual recovery remains unanswered. Using conjoint analysis, the study identified exactly which bundle of compensation items was most preferred by guests.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Baker ◽  
Tracy Meyer

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to specifically consider two interactional aspects that are likely to contribute to the success of an explanation of why a service failed: the adequacy of information provided and role of the person providing the information. Design/methodology/approach – Two empirical studies were conducted using a between-subjects 2 (information: low vs high) × 2 (employee: frontline vs manager) experimental design. The first study was designed to better understand when the information provided might have a more positive impact on the customer. The second study was conducted to understand why the effects exist. Findings – In Study 1, an interaction effect was seen that suggests that the most positive outcome is when the manager (vs the frontline employee) provides a full explanation (vs limited explanation) of the mishap. Results from Study 2 indicate that source credibility is in play. Research limitations/implications – Participants were asked to respond to service failure and recovery scenarios using the same service context. The means of the outcome variables suggest that the recovery effort could be improved upon with other methods. Practical implications – Contrary to suggestions that frontline employees be responsible to resolve service failures, our studies reveal that service recovery initiatives involving an explanation only are best received when the manager provides the customer a full account of what went wrong. Originality/value – This research provides empirical evidence of when and why more information regarding the cause of a service failure is most positively received by the customer.


Author(s):  
Dipen Rai ◽  
Dominic Appiah

The ideas of service failure and recovery strategies have been transformed, due to the internet environment, from a consumer-provider perspective to a multifaceted web quality activity. The research on service failure and recovery strategies has been well-developed in terms of the consumer's viewpoint of service as well as the responsibility for recovery conventionally expected to be allotted to the marketer. On the contrary, existing research indicates that there is a limited range of understanding of consumer-website interactivity relating to online service failure and recovery strategies as well as less understanding of the highly diverse characteristics of computer-mediated marketing environments (CMMEs). The perspectives of CMMEs relate to online customer behavior as distinct from conventional behavior. In fact, providers are involved in intense activity in the online environment in terms of market competition, as customers are positioned just a click away from switching providers in the case of service failure.


Author(s):  
Ji-Young Hong ◽  
Wei-Na Lee

The emergence of the Internet and its communication capabilities have changed the way consumers communicate their negative experiences with products and services. This chapter offers a comprehensive assessment of the Internet as a viable complaint communication channel and details its related threats and opportunities. An integrated conceptual model of consumer complaint behavior is proposed. It is suggested that an in-depth understanding of the psychological mechanisms that underlie consumer complaint behavior and the characteristics of online communication as well as the characteristics of the business may be essential in taking advantage of the Internet as a complaint communication channel. Managerial implications and recommendations for practical implementation are also suggested.


Author(s):  
Yllka Azemi ◽  
Wilson Ozuem

The Internet environment has transformed the concepts of service failure and recovery strategies from a dyadic customer-provider focus into a multidimensional web quality scope. In traditional encounters, the research spectrum of service failure and recovery strategies is very much developed from a customer service approach, and the responsibility of recovery has been traditionally assumed to be something that is assigned to the marketer. Studies pay little or no attention to the multidimensional nature of service failures contingent to recovery strategies in the evolving social media. To date, empirical studies have focused on service failures and recovery strategies in online marketing environments, but pay limited attention to social media platforms. This paper aims to provide some insights on the need for a broader conceptualisation of service failure and recovery strategies, incorporating social media platforms for the development of effective marketing communications programme.


2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Boshoff ◽  
G. Staude

Persistent poor service delivery will have a harmful impact on the survival and growth prospects of service firms. The literature contends that, if service failures occur, there are strategies that service firms can employ to return customers to a state of satisfaction. Very little scholarly research has been done, however, to assess the satisfaction of customers after service firms have tried to recover from service failure. Although anecdotal evidence suggest it, no empirical research has been done to confirm that effective service recovery will ensure ‘overall’ satisfaction, or the long-term loyalty of complaining customers.The purpose of this study is to assess the validity and reliability of an instrument purported to measure satisfaction with service recovery (RECOVSAT), and to determine which dimensions of service recovery satisfaction are the most important predictors of overall satisfaction and loyalty.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 458-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxi Bergel ◽  
Christian Brock

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of three different dimensions of switching costs on customer dissatisfaction response styles as well as on the evaluation of service recovery.Design/methodology/approachStudy 1 is a scenario-based experiment and Study 2 uses a critical incident technique combined with survey-based measures of switching costs, dissatisfaction responses and perceived complaint handling.FindingsThe results of these studies highlight the need to consider the different effects of switching costs. Not only do different switching costs lead to varying customer dissatisfaction responses, they also have differential moderator effects on the interrelationships between customer-perceived recovery justice and service recovery satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsService failure severity was an influential control variable. Future studies should investigate how the type, context and severity of service failure influence customers’ complaint behavior. Furthermore, participants had trouble differentiating between their relations toward their service provider in general and one particular employee. Hence, further research should explore the relationship between customers and frontline employees.Practical implicationsThe authors encourage managers to take a closer look at the switching cost dimensions of their service industry. This may lead practitioners to promote differentiated strategies for complaint stimulation and complaint handling.Originality/valueThis is the first study to simultaneously explore all three dimensions of switching costs when examining their impact on customers’ dissatisfaction response styles as well as the moderating effects in the recovery process. In doing so, this study reveals some hitherto uncovered effects.


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