Effect of communication mode in justice‐based service recovery

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of organizational justice-based recovery strategies and the mode of communication used following a service failure on key organizational variables including customer satisfaction, loyalty, and complaining behavior. Design/methodology/approach -A scenario-based experiment was used to depict a service failure and recovery experience involving a fictitious cellular phone provider. The scenario manipulated the type of organizational justice-based recovery strategy and the mode of communication used during the recovery process. Surveys were used to measure participants' reactions to the experience. Findings -The results of the study suggest no difference between the effect of justice-based strategies on overall customer satisfaction or loyalty. However, participants who communicated in-person or with a toll-free number were more satisfied with the communication than those who used e-mail. Customers were more likely to engage in informal negative word-of-mouth behavior than formally complaining to the company. Research limitations/implications -Future research should investigate the length of the recovery process, whether or not the problem was successfully solved, and the effect of customers' communication mode preference. Scenario-based experiments need to be replicated using real life service encounters/simulations. Practical implications -Implications for organizations developing recovery strategies include: the cost of the recovery effort; utilizing multiple channels to increase formal complaining; and differences between in-person and technological strategies. Originality/value -The present study investigated both service recovery and communication mode using an experimental manipulation.

Basking in reflected glory: Using customer reference relationships to build reputation in industrial markets

“…One possible approach to gain more detailed insights into building reputation via customer reference relationships would be to conduct scenario-based experiments in business-to-business settings (Shapiro & Nieman-Gonder, 2006). While suffering from external validity problems, such experiments would be appropriate to test the assumed market determinants and determinants of intra-and interorganizational reputation transfer, as well as their causal impact on supplier reputation.…”

Managing online service recovery: procedures, justice and customer satisfaction

“…In this domain, studies have investigated customer responses to justice-based service recovery strategies delivered offline, even following online service failures. For instance, Shapiro and Nieman-Gonder (2006) examine the role of compensation and apology following online service failures. Whilst offering relevant insights on the individual and combined effect of distributive and interactional justice, the above study does not account for the role of procedural justice.…”

The role of self-service technologies in restoring justice

“…In the on-line recovery condition, the subject sent out an email to remedy the situation, whereas in the off-line recovery condition, problem handling took place via phone. Oral communication is more effective in conveying sincerity and empathy than written communication (Tax et al, 1998) and hence these critical elements of interpersonal interaction are also present in telephone encounters (Holloway and Beatty, 2003;Shapiro and Nieman-Gonder, 2006;Collier and Bienstock, 2006). Consequently, recovery via phone is appropriate for testing these hypotheses.…”

“…Given the rapid increase in on-line and self-service technology (SST) encounters, there is an urgent need to understand whether consumers react differently to technology-based failures than to human failures This issue is particularly important since the reasons for dissatisfying experiences tend to differ across on-line and off-line environments (Holloway and Beatty, 2003;Harris et al, 2006a,b). Some evidence also exists to suggest that traditional service recovery strategies might not be directly transferable to on-line environments (Shapiro and Nieman-Gonder, 2006;Harris et al, 2006a,b;Meuter et al, 2003;Sousa and Voss 2009). Although these prior studies suggest that differences exist between the two delivery modes, they have failed to systematically examine the nature of such differences.…”