The impact of ethical cues on customer satisfaction with service

Abstract

This study examines the effects of ethical and unethical cues on customers' evaluations of the ethics of a service provider and their subsequent satisfaction with the service. The results of a disguised, laboratory experiment are used to suggest that customers respond to unethical cues in the environment through lower ethical assessments and satisfaction ratings, but that ethical cues may not necessarily increase satisfaction scores when compared to a neutral situation. The implications suggest that ethical cues and an honest service provider may be the expected norm, and thus will lead to (or maintain) satisfaction with the service encounter, while unethical cues will create dissatisfaction.

The Perceptions of Consumers Regarding Online Retailers’ Ethics and Their Relationship with Consumers’ General Internet Expertise and Word of Mouth: A Preliminary Analysis

“…These definitions conceptualize ethics at highly abstract levels. In this vein, earlier research in the traditional marketplace addressing consumers' perceptions of retailers' ethics reveals that ethics is a complex and highly elusive construct (Arbuthnot, 1997;Burns et al, 1994;McIntyre et al, 1999;Norris and Gifford, 1988;Román, 2003;Thomas et al, 2002). But more importantly, some of these studies suggest a multidimensional nature of the ethical construct in this context.…”

Procedural justice, ethical climate and service outcomes in restaurants

“…Since service behavior affects customer satisfaction (Thomas et al, 2002), employees' performance should mediate the relationship between ethical climate and service outcomes (i.e., customer satisfaction). This mediation model derives from the assumption that providing high quality service is related to ethical considerations because it affects the perceived rightness in the service context (Babin et al, 2000;Weeks et al, 2004), and is based on established positive relationships between quality of service and customer satisfaction (e.g., Burton et al, 2003;Griffith, 2001;Oliver, 1997;Rust and Oliver, 1994;Subramony et al, 2004;Tsai and Huang, 2002;Parasuraman et al, 1988).…”

Non-fulfillment of promotional deals: the impact of gender and company reputation on consumers’ perceptions and attitudes

“…Much of the research on the use to which consumers put ethical cues in making judgments show that companies that are perceived as unethical are judged less favorably than companies that are perceived as ethical (see, for example, Folkes and Kamins, 1999;Thomas et al, 2002). In addition to this body of research, another body of research that is of relevance is that on gender and ethics.…”