Examining stealing thunder as a new service recovery strategy: impact on customer loyalty

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 931-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanko Guchait ◽  
Rachel Han ◽  
Xingyu Wang ◽  
JéAnna Abbott ◽  
Yetong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Customer Loyalty ◽  
Interaction Effect ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Joint Effect ◽  
Recovery Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stealing Thunder

PurposeThis paper aims to examine how stealing thunder, apology and compensation influence customer loyalty in a service failure context, and how trust mediates these relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a scenario-based between-group experimental design involving 300 customers.FindingsThe results indicated that stealing thunder, apology and compensation have a joint effect on customer loyalty. Specifically, this study found a significant positive impact of stealing thunder on loyalty; a two-way interaction effect of compensation and stealing thunder on loyalty; and a three-way interaction effect on loyalty. Additionally, trust mediated the relationship between service recovery attributes (stealing thunder, apology and compensation) and customer loyalty.Originality/valueThis study introduces a new service recovery method called Stealing Thunder, which is commonly used in the fields of law and communication and is the first to assess stealing thunder as a proactive/preemptive strategy to handle service failures and its impact on customer loyalty. The study found that when stealing thunder was present, compensation had no influence on customer loyalty. Moreover, when stealing thunder was present, compensation had no impact on loyalty when apology was not present. However, compensation had a significant effect on loyalty when stealing thunder and apology were not present. This study finds the value of including proactive/preemptive strategies (stealing thunder) along with regular service recovery strategies (e.g. apology and compensation) in the service recovery process. Results show that service recoveries that include stealing thunder help service failure recovery significantly by increasing customer’s trust.

Explanation information and source in service recovery initiatives

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Baker ◽  
Tracy Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Source Credibility ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Full Account ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Failure And Recovery

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.

scholarly journals Why service recovery fails

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Michel ◽  
David Bowen ◽  
Robert Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Recovery ◽  
Service Logic ◽  
Recovery Management ◽  
A Company

PurposeThe keys to effective service recovery are familiar to many throughout industry and academia. Nevertheless, overall customer satisfaction after a failure has not improved, and many managers claim their organizations cannot respond to and fix recurring problems quickly enough. Why does service recovery so often fail and what can managers do about it? This paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe objective is to produce an interdisciplinary summary of the growing literature on service recovery, bringing together what each of the author's domain – management, marketing, and human resources management – has to offer. By contrasting those three perspectives using 141 academic sources, nine tensions between customer, process, and employee recovery are discovered.FindingsIt is argued that service recovery often fails due to the unresolved tensions found between the conflicting perspectives of customer recovery, process recovery, and employee recovery. Therefore, successful service recovery requires the integration of these different perspectives. This is summarized in the following definition: “Service recovery are the integrative actions a company takes to re‐establish customer satisfaction and loyalty after a service failure (customer recovery), to ensure that failure incidents encourage learning and process improvement (process recovery) and to train and reward employees for this purpose (employee recovery).”Practical implicationsManagers are not advised to directly address and solve the nine tensions between customer recovery, process recovery, and employee recovery. Instead, concentrating on the underlying cause of these tensions is recommended. That is, managers should strive to integrate service recovery efforts based upon a “service logic”; a balance of functional subcultures; strategy‐driven resolution of functional differences; data‐based decision making from the seamless collection and sharing of information; recovery metrics and rewards; and development of “T‐shaped” employees with a service, not just functional, mindset.Originality/valueThis paper provides an interdisciplinary view of the difficulties to implement a successful service recovery management. The contribution is twofold. First, specific tensions between customer, process and employee recovery are identified. Second, managers are offered recommendations of how to integrate the diverging perspectives.

Empowerment in service recovery: the role of self-regulation process of frontline employee

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 828-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mo Zhang ◽  
Ruoqi Geng
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Job Engagement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regulation Process ◽  
Recovery Satisfaction ◽  
The Impact

Purpose In accordance with the commitment–trust theory, employee attitudes and behaviours mediate the impact of empowerment on service recovery performance. The purpose of this paper is to extend the self-regulating process model and develop a structural framework that combines empowerment, self-regulation mechanisms (service recovery awareness, job engagement and emotional exhaustion) and post-recovery satisfaction. This framework explores how empowerment can lead to action of frontline employees (FLEs) in service recovery. Design/methodology/approach The authors test the hypotheses by investigating 290 pairs of FLEs and customers, who have service failure experience in the express mail industry, using structure equation modelling. Findings The findings show that empowerment enhances both service recovery awareness and job engagement. On the one hand, service recovery awareness has a positive impact on emotional exhaustion, which has a negative impact on post-recovery satisfaction. On the other hand, job engagement has a positive impact on performance. These results provide the whole picture of the double-edged effects of empowerment on FLEs in service recovery. Practical implications This paper indicates that managers should re-consider approaches to empowerment based on self-regulation process to enhance performance following service failure. Originality/value This study explores the dark side of empowerment in service recovery from a self-regulation perspective.

Hospitality-based service recovery, outcome favourability, satisfaction with service recovery and consequent customer loyalty: an empirical analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghazal Shams ◽  
Raouf Rather ◽  
Mohsin Abdur Rehman ◽  
Rab Nawaz Lodhi
Keyword(s):  
Customer Loyalty ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Behavioural Intention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
The Impact

Purpose In recent studies, tourism scholars focussed more on service failure and recovery. Thus satisfaction with service recovery (SSR) and outcome favourability in conjunction with service recovery (SR) and customers’ behavioural intention was given very little attention, while they are very attention-grabbing, particularly in marketing areas of hospitality and tourism studies. Using stealing thunder and co-creation-based strategies, this study aims to investigate the impact of SR on outcome favourability, and its association with SSR and customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach To attain the objectives of the current study, data were collected through field survey by applying a random sampling technique from 346 regular customers four- and five-star hotels in the context of Iran. The structural equation modelling technique was applied for testing the measurement and relationship models of the study. Findings The findings of this research reveal a positive relationship between SR and outcome favourability. The findings also indicate that outcome favourability positively affects SSR and loyalty. Finally, SSR exerts a favourable and significant impact on customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications The study findings may have restricted applicability in different contexts other than four- and five-star hotels. Theoretically, the current research contributes insight into the dynamics of characterizing SR, outcome favourability, SSR and behavioural intention-based theoretical associations, as observed in the hospitality industry. Originality/value This study adopted an un-explored SR, outcome favourability and SSR theoretical perspectives to identify the strength and nature of relationships between them and discuss their important implications for academicians and hotel managers.

Exploring customer loyalty following service recovery: a replication study in the Ghanaian hotel industry

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
George Oppong Appiagyei Ampong ◽  
Aidatu Abubakari ◽  
Majeed Mohammed ◽  
Esther Theresa Appaw-Agbola ◽  
John Agyekum Addae ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Customer Loyalty ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Interactional Justice ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Justice

PurposeThe study sought to assess the nexus between components of perceived justice and satisfaction, trust and loyalty with service recovery.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were gathered from a sample of 300 clients from 8 midscale hotels in Ghana. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships.FindingsPerceived distributive justice has no effect on customer satisfaction with service recovery. Interactional justice had the greatest effect on customer satisfaction with service recovery. No significant relationship was found between procedural justice and trust. Also, trust had a significant effect on loyalty post-service recovery.Research limitations/implicationsEmpirical data were taken from one service industry; thus, it is reflective of only that service industry, generalizations should be mindful of our context bounded results.Practical implicationsThe study offers suggestions for managers to leverage the dimensions of perceived justice in order to build trust and loyalty post-service failure. Hotels should treat customers with fairness and respect at every point of contact during the service recovery process. Reward based compensation should be offered to customers to build trust.Originality/valueThe study is among a few to assess service recovery and its link with loyalty from a developing economy context. The study revealed that perceptions of justice with service recovery influences customer loyalty and satisfaction post-service recovery and extend the understanding of service recovery in the Ghanaian hotel sector.

Recovering co-created service failures: the missing link of perceived justice and ethicalness

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 921-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuqin Wei ◽  
Tyson Ang ◽  
Nwamaka A. Anaza
Keyword(s):  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Ethical Perceptions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Justice ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Fairness Theory ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Secondary Study

Purpose Drawing on the fairness theory, this paper aims to propose a conceptual framework that investigates how co-creation in the failed service delivery (coproduction intensity) and co-creation in the service recovery affect customers’ evaluation of the firm’s competence, justice and ethicalness, and ultimately their willingness to co-create in the future. Design/methodology/approach Tax services were chosen as the research context. A consumer panel consisting of individuals who live in the USA and have used tax preparation services within the past year was recruited. The first study explores what happens to customers’ ethical perceptions during a failed co-created service encounter. A secondary study investigates what happens to customers’ ethical perceptions in the event that the failed co-created service is recovered. Findings The findings show that customers’ perceptions of the firm’s abilities and ethics are impeded by coproduction intensity but favorably influenced by co-creation of recovery. Practical implications A sense of ethicalness and fairness is violated when co-created service failure occurs, but fortunately, practitioners can count on engaging customers in the service recovery process as co-creators of the solution to positively alter perceived ethicalness and fairness. Originality/value Failed co-created services represent an under-researched area in the marketing literature. Current investigations of co-created service failures have largely approached the notion of fairness from a perceived justice perspective without referencing ethical judgments. However, fairness is grounded in basic ethical assumptions of normative treatment. This research is among the first to highlight the importance of perceived ethicalness in the context of co-created service failure and recovery.

An examination of corporate social responsibility and processing fluency in a service context

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Zhang ◽  
Anna S. Mattila
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Joint Effect ◽  
Processing Fluency ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Repurchase Intentions ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose – This study aims to examine the joint effect of processing fluency and service quality in a service context. In recent years, companies have become increasingly interested in supporting corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. While most prior research focus on the positive effect of CSR initiatives on consumer behavior, the current study identifies a new boundary condition – processing fluency – for the positive impact of CSR messaging. In addition, this examines its impact across two situations – a successful service delivery and a failure. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a 2 (processing fluency: high vs low) × 2 (service delivery: failure vs success) scenario-based experimental design. A total of 152 adult consumers participated in this study. Findings – The results show that in the service failure condition, participants exposed to a CSR message with high processing fluency exhibited more positive attitudes and higher repurchase intentions, as compared to their counterparts in the low processing fluency condition. However, in a successful service delivery condition, participants showed similar level of attitudes and behavioral intentions across the two fluency conditions. Originality/value – No previous research examined the interplay of processing fluency and CSR. This paper fills this gap in the service literature.

Emotional antecedents and outcomes of service recovery

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Riscinto Kozub ◽  
Martin Anthony O’Neill ◽  
Adrian A. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Behaviour ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Cognitive Measures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Luxury Hotel ◽  
Emotional Antecedents ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to investigate the service recovery experience in the luxury hotel industry by introducing emotions as a predictor of future behavioural intention and to compare traditional cognitive measures of satisfaction following a recovery process with measures based on affect. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-methods approach was adopted comprising a main quantitative study, preceded by an exploratory qualitative study. Findings – The study provides further support for the use of emotions in understanding consumer behaviour following a service failure. Research limitations/implications – As an abstract concept, we have only limited physical, measurable manifestation of emotions, and the construct is difficult to operationalise in social sciences research. Furthermore, this research has required retrospective self-reporting of emotions. Practical implications – The use of emotions can provide a better diagnostic tool for understanding attitudes that customers go away with following a service failure, rather than concentrating on cognitive measures of performance. Originality/value – The study has provided further support for the use of emotions in understanding consumer behaviour following a service failure.

Customer satisfaction with sommelier services of upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 532-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommy Lau ◽  
Man Lai Cheung ◽  
Guilherme D. Pires ◽  
Carol Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Customer Loyalty ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The abolishment of the wine tax in Hong Kong has led to increased wine consumption and increased demand for wine-related professionals, such as sommeliers. Yet the importance of sommeliers’ value-adding performance in the context of upscale Chinese restaurants has not been examined. To address this gap, the SERVQUAL framework is adopted to examine the influence of sommeliers’ service quality (SQ) on customer satisfaction (CS) and loyalty in the context of upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach The survey method is used to collect data from 302 units of the population of interest, partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the links between constructs. Findings Four of the seven dimensions of sommeliers’ service quality, namely, empathy, tangibles, credibility and assurance, have a significant positive impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, whereas the impact of perceived value and responsiveness on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is positive but only marginally significant. Reliability has a weak and non-significant impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications Examining a small number of upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong limits generalisation of the findings to other contexts. Replication of the research in different contexts will enhance generalizability. In terms of implications, the discussion highlights the importance of sommeliers’ service performance on customers’ SQ perceptions SQ, CS and loyalty, all of which are important variables for restaurateurs. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of the influence of the quality of sommelier’s SQ on CS and loyalty in upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. Given the lack of attention to this service role in the literature, the study contributes theory from which further understanding can develop.

Service recovery for moderate and high involvement services

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 331-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Bambauer-Sachse ◽  
Landisoa Eunorphie Rabeson
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Level Of Service ◽  
High Involvement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Failure Severity ◽  
Future Consumption ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine which level of tangible compensation for a service failure leads to high levels of customer satisfaction for moderate- versus high-involvement services as well as for different conditions of responsibility for the failure and failure severity. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a 4 (tangible compensation: gift, discount, credit for future consumption, refund) × 2 (responsibility for the failure: restaurant vs customer) × 2 (failure severity: low vs high) × 2 (involvement: moderate vs high) design using scenarios in a restaurant context. Findings – The results reveal that, for moderate-involvement services, all types of compensation are equally appropriate, except for when customers are responsible for a severe failure. In this condition, they expect tangible compensation of higher benefit. For high-involvement services, the more severe the failure, the higher the benefit of tangible compensation should be, independent of responsibility. Practical implications – The findings suggest that managers should consider the level of service involvement as well as responsibility for and severity of the failure when choosing the level of tangible compensation. Originality/value – The results of this study provide new insights into how to choose appropriate and efficient service recovery measures.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document