An experimental study of service recovery options

Abstract

As the importance of service quality, as both marketing strategy and competitive advantage, gains more and more recognition, efforts to recover from poor service delivery are receiving increased attention. Yet, much of the literature is based on anecdotal accounts rather than theoretical conceptualizations or rigorous empirical assessment. At least one retailing study has shown that more than 70 per cent of customers who complain can be persuaded to continue shopping with the offending retailer provided that some effort is made to recover. Little, however, is known about which strategies to employ or how these strategies interact to influence customer perceptions and attitudes, especially in a services environment. Assesses, from a management perspective, the impact three service recovery options (decisions) can have on customer satisfaction: time/speed; level of atonement; and who should be involved in service recovery. Finds that level of atonement (a tangible offering) emerged as the most dominant main effect followed by time/speed, while the organizational position of the person involved in service recovery was not significant as a main effect.

Quality gap of educational services at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Iran

“…Accordingly, service quality has been receiving much prominence because of its obvious relationship to costs 2 , financial performance 3,4 , customer satisfaction [5][6][7] and customer retention [8][9][10] .…”

A Case Study of Service Failure and Recovery in Tourism within China Southern Airline

“…Apology, attentiveness and being proactive are all interpersonal tactics applied to the service delivery process. However, Boshoff (1997) pointed that a mere apology without compensation might not be sufficient to satisfy unpleasant customers -complainers need to be at least returned to their original position before the failure happens [7]. In regard to the relevance between failure and monetary compensation, Schneider and Bowen (1999) particularly indicated that customers tend to desperately protect their financial well-being in the face of service failure.…”

Service Recovery Activities and Customer Satisfaction: Mediating Role of Justice Dimensions: A Case Study of China

“…), and being respectful, polite and courteous during the service recovery process (Bitner, Booms, & Mary, 1990;Blodgett, Hill, & Tax, 1997;Mattila & Patterson, 2004;Sparks & McColl-Kennedy, 2001). While evidence for the "recovery paradox" is sparse and varied, it is generally agreed that effective service recovery can redirect dissatisfied customers to a state of satisfaction and it go a long way towards limiting the harmful impact of service failure (Boshoff, 1997;Boshoff & Leong, 1998;Michel, 2001). Consequently, past studies have applied the Justice Theory to evaluate service recovery efforts following service failure and included distributive justice, interactional justice, and procedural justice (Patterson, Cowley, & Prasongsukarn, 2006;Schoefer, 2010).…”

“…When an individual perceives that benefits have not been allocated equitably, he/she experiences distress, which in turn motivates him/her to restore distributive justice. Studies have provided empirical evidence that perceived fairness of tangible outcomes has a positive effect on recovery evaluation (Boshoff, 1997;Goodwin & Ross, 1992;Smith, Bolton, & Wagner, 1999).…”