Predicting negative consumer reactions to services offshoring

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine behavioral changes by consumers (i.e. changing time of day they contact a firm, requesting a domestic service provider, and ceasing doing business with the firm) when faced with being provided a service from abroad. Design/methodology/approach -Data were collected from a pre-recruited internet panel of 394 American consumers. Hierarchical regression analysis, including demographic and psychographic variables, was employed to determine which variables were instrumental in predicting behavioral changes among consumers when being provided a service from abroad. Findings -The results suggest that American consumers are wary of services offshoring and that psychographic variables (boycott issue importance and negative word of mouth) are more instrumental than demographic variables in predicting behavioral changes by consumers.Research limitations/implications -Future research should examine consumer attitudes about services offshoring from populations in countries other than the US, and in relation to different types of services and the importance of those services to consumers. Practical implications -Implications for firms include assessing their customer's perceptions of offshoring, proactively communicating with customers about offshoring practices, and providing customers with some control over their service interactions. Originality/value -Previous researchers have highlighted the benefits of services offshoring to firms but also hypothesized that consumers may react negatively when provided services from abroad. In this research, it is found that consumers will change the way they interact with a firm when faced with being provided a service from abroad.

Outsourcing customer support: The role of provider customer focus

“…The phenomenon of outsourcing customer support services differs fundamentally from outsourcing other services such as IT or advertising, as it creates a triadic situation where a client firm calls upon an external agent to deliver customer support to end customers. This setting entails significant risk: if customers are dissatisfied with a provider's service delivery, they may develop an unfavorable perception about the client firm, engage in negative word‐of‐mouth, and possibly terminate their relationship (Thelen and Shapiro, 2012). Hence, it is crucial that an outsourcing service provider is both motivated and able to effectively fulfill end customer needs.…”

Service Offshoring Fit from Consumers’ Perspective

“…Service offshoring, however, often elicits ethical and moral reactions (Grappi et al, 2013), and negative sentiments among consumers (Thelen and Shapiro, 2012) due to perceptions about job losses, a lower quality of service, difficulties communicating with foreign service providers, and concerns about data security risks (Thelen et al, 2008). Negative word-of-mouth from service offshoring has been found to lower consumer perceived service quality, satisfaction and loyalty to the firm (Whitaker et al, 2008).…”

“…Negative word-of-mouth from service offshoring has been found to lower consumer perceived service quality, satisfaction and loyalty to the firm (Whitaker et al, 2008). In the context of changing customer dynamics and preferences, recent research suggests that scholars and practitioners alike need to consider the effects of offshore outsourcing on customers’ reactions (Grappi et al, 2013; Thelen and Shapiro, 2012), particularly in relation to their interactions with first-line service providers (Wuyts et al, 2015). It has been contended that a customer-centric perspective would allow firms to effectively manage customer interfacing relationships (Kalaignanam and Varadarajan, 2012) and assess the effects of decisions on customer brand evaluations (Kranzbühler et al, 2018).…”

Consequentes de atitudes de vingança: novos olhares sobre os aspectos negativos no comportamento do consumidor

“…A literatura indica uma série de reações a partir da insatisfação e percepção de injustiça durante as relações de troca na compra de produtos e/ou serviços quando conduzidas de forma malsucedida, sendo influenciadas pela raiva e/ou desejo de vingança em menor ou maior grau HUNT, 2000;HUEFNER et al, 2002;MORRIN, 2003;ZOURRIG;CHEBAT;TOFFOLLI, 2009;FUNCHES;MARKLEY;DAVIS, 2009;GREGOIRE;TRIPP, 2009;THELEN;SHAPIRO, 2012;HOPKINS, 2013;JOIREMAN et al, 2013;LEE;PAN;TSAI, 2013;BOUGIE et al,2003). Essas reações têm desencadeado ações cada vez mais danosas à imagem das empresas, pois através da acessibilidade fornecida pela internet, em ambientes específicos ou não, como as redes sociais, emoções negativas originadas durante experiências de consumo malsucedidas são transmitidas para um grupo maior de pessoas (e.g.…”