Service Failure and Recovery in a Strategic Airline Alliance Context: Interplay of Locus of Service Failure and Social Identity

Abstract

There has been a dramatic increase in the past decade in the number of strategic alliances and business networks. Yet, despite these trends in the business environment, the individual firm-customer dyad has remained the contextual focus of most services marketing research (Gittell, 2002). Using a scenario study, this research investigates the effects of service failures in a strategic airline alliance setting, with a particular focus on locus of service failure and strength of social identification, on three alliance entities-a consumer's home carrier, the alliance partner airline, and the alliance. Study findings suggest that consumers' evaluations are more stable (less extreme) when the home carrier causes the service failure. In contrast, when a lesser known entity (partner airline) causes the service failure, consumers are more willing to rate that entity harshly. Furthermore, compared to weak identifiers, strong identifiers were not only more positive in their evaluation of the home carrier but also in their evaluation of the alliance, pointing to a halo effect, whereby positive evaluations of the home carrier are transferred to the alliance. Implications of study results are discussed and directions for future research provided.

The effects of perceived satisfaction with service recovery efforts: a study in a hotel setting

“…The empirical results also show that communication and explanation are the dimensions of importance to consumers when they report a service failure to a service fi rm (Boshoff, 2005). This fi nding is consistent with the fi ndings of Sparks andCallan (1996), de Ruyter andWetzels (2000), that the communication and explanation of the service provider can positively infl uence customer satisfaction. Communication with staff responsible for receiving complaints on defective service provisions directly affects service satisfaction and indirectly affects repurchase intentions and positive WOM through these latter variables.…”

“…The results also reveal a direct and signifi cant effect on recovery strategies, responses, and apologies on service satisfaction and a mediating effect on future customer behaviors. Additionally, the importance of compensation through tangible features is also refl ected in Boshoff (2005) conclusions and partially by Wirtz and Mattila (2004). Customer satisfaction has a positive impact on service recovery, leading to a highlevel of positive WOM behavior and repurchase intention.…”

“…Positive effects of satisfaction on loyalty are refl ected in consumer intentions to repurchase a product or service or to engage in positive WOM (Weber & Sparks, 2010). Consequently, companies can benefi t from securing a base of stable customers or by reducing marketing costs (Doorn & Verhoef, 2008), leaving the organization in a more competitive position (Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2009 …”

“…Additionally, service recovery strategies have traditionally been presented as key organizational elements, and especially in relation to the hospitality, banking, health care, retail, air transport sectors, tourism, and leisure and hotels (Krishna et al, 2014;Lin et al, 2011;Moreno, Hudson, & Aguilar, 2006;Vázquez-Casielles, Suárez-Álvarez & Díaz-Martín, 2010;Weber & Sparks, 2010). …”

“…Finally, WOM communication can be defi ned as informal conversations with other consumers on the properties, uses, and characteristics of goods, services and providers (Westbrook, 1987). Customers who experience service failure tell the incident to other ten people, while those not experiencing a negative service only tell to fi ve people (Oliver, 2010).…”