Examining the influence of forgiveness and its antecedents on consumer behavior: the moderating role of service failure severity

PurposeThis study aims to investigate antecedents of forgiveness from the non-complainers point of view after a service failure in India.Design/methodology/approachThis study bases itself on the theoretical foundations of the Cognitive Emotive Coping model. In the first study, a survey-based design was used for soliciting responses from 291 respondents. An experimental research design was undertaken in the second study, and data were recorded from 120 respondents. Data were analysed using both SPSS and AMOS.FindingsAll the antecedent variables, except, affective commitment was found to influence forgiveness significantly. Further, forgiveness also positively influenced repurchase intentions and had a negative influence on negative word-of-mouth. The findings also suggest that the service failure severity effectively moderates the relationship between empathy and forgiveness.Originality/valueThis paper extends the cognitive emotive coping model from the non-complainers point of view by adding relational constructs to it. This study observes that affective commitment is not necessarily related to forgiveness in contrast to existing literature. The relationship between empathy and forgiveness is stronger when failure severity is low.

How can autonomy improve consumer experience when interacting with smart products?

PurposeThis paper analyzes the direct and indirect effects of the autonomy of smart home speakers on consumer experience, weighing its benefits and costs in the following areas: usefulness, interactivity, coolness, service failure severity and intrusiveness. Experience value is examined as an antecedent of repurchase intention.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling is applied to data collected from 607 users of smart home speakers. Mediating effects are examined between autonomy and experience value.FindingsAutonomy has no direct effect on experience value, since the positive effect is fully mediated by interactivity, intrusiveness, perceived usefulness and coolness. Failure severity has no mediating effect and has no influence on experience value. Usefulness, coolness and interactivity show positive mediating effects between autonomy and experience value, while intrusiveness has a negative mediating effect. The better the consumer's experience response, the greater the repurchase intention.Practical implicationsCompanies should highlight the benefits (interactivity, usefulness and coolness) and attempt to reduce the costs (intrusiveness) associated with smart device autonomy. Firms can use these aspects to increase the rate of smart-device adoption.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the interactive research literature by empirically examining the mediating effect of interactivity and coolness. Additionally, this research offers evidence of the full mediation effect of usefulness, interactivity, coolness and intrusiveness. Finally, this research shows that failure severity is not always important and that it can be context specific.

Inflammation-Related Biomarkers Are Associated with Heart Failure Severity and Poor Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Non-Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Inflammation-related biomarkers are associated with clinical outcomes in mixed-etiology chronic heart failure populations. Inflammation-related markers tend to be higher in ischemic than in non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NI-DCM) patients, which might impact their prognostic performance in NI-DCM patients. Therefore, we aimed to assess the association of inflammation-related biomarkers with heart failure severity parameters and adverse cardiac events in a pure NI-DCM patient cohort. Fifty-seven patients with NI-DCM underwent endomyocardial biopsy. Biopsies were evaluated by immunohistochemistry for CD3+, CD45ro+, CD68+, CD4+, CD54+, and HLA-DR+ cells. Blood samples were tested for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor and adiponectin. During a five-year follow-up, twenty-seven patients experienced at least one composite adverse cardiac event: left ventricle assist device implantation, heart transplantation or death. Interleukin-6, TNF-α and adiponectin correlated with heart failure severity parameters. Patients with higher levels of interleukin-6, TNF-α, adiponectin or hs-CRP, or a higher number of CD3+ or CD45ro+ cells, had lower survival rates. Interleukin-6, adiponectin, and CD45ro+ cells were independently associated with poor clinical outcomes. All patients who had interleukin-6, TNF-α and adiponectin concentrations above the threshold experienced an adverse cardiac event. Therefore, a combination of these cytokines can identify high-risk NI-DCM patients.

Managing customer satisfaction after a product recall: the joint role of remedy, brand equity, and severity

Firms struggle to respond to product recalls and manage post-recall customer satisfaction. In three studies, we examine the impact of firms’ remedy choice on satisfaction and provide evidence that firms’ post-recall remedy efforts are often not optimal. In Study 1 (field study), we estimate the longer-term effects of remedy on different satisfaction metrics and show that offering full remedy is much more important for low and high (vs. medium) brand equity firms, especially when failure severity is high. In Study 2 (experiment), we find further evidence that the positive impact of full remedy on satisfaction is moderated by brand equity in a u-shaped fashion. Finally, Study 3 (experiment) provides further evidence that the relationship between remedy and brand equity is contingent on failure severity. The findings contribute to the literature on firms’ management of negative relationship events and provide managers with the empirically grounded 5R guidelines to make better remedy decisions in response to product recalls.