White response to potentially discriminatory actions in a services setting

Abstract

Discrimination in the marketplace is a significant problem for many blacks and for service providers. However, recent research suggests that some whites may respond similarly to blacks when they witness what they perceive to be a discriminatory act in a service encounter. Using an experimental design methodology, this research investigates the extent to which this occurs. The degree to which an observing customer values the other customer's welfare and feels empathy has been found to explain differences in service failure perceptions among white study participants. White participants high in empathy for blacks were found to react similarly to blacks relative to the inherent negativity of the service failure. This suggests that a service failure involving black customers that hints of discrimination has a greater overall impact on the long-term success of the service firm than originally envisioned.

What's Race Got to Do with It? Responses to Consumer Discrimination

“…Our findings are analogous to those of Baker and Meyer (2011) who showed that differences in Whites' level of empathy influenced their perception of the severity of a service failure in a restaurant, the degree of anger they reported feeling, and their attribution of the incident to racial discrimination. Baker and Meyer (2011) posited that when and why Whites have empathetic reactions to a service failure in a store may be a function of the value they place on the welfare of the other person.…”

“…Most participants found the salesperson's behavior to be highly unacceptable and were angry about the situation. Furthermore, the presence of the White shopper who received good service provided a context in which racial discrimination could be more easily inferred (see similar findings by Baker & Meyer, 2011;Baker et al, 2008). While these limitations led to small effect sizes, we still detected differences based on participants' own race/ethnicity and PSD.…”

“…Baker et al (2008) examined people's emotional reactions to service failures and found that Black participants were angrier about an incident of consumer discrimination than were White participants. Interestingly, Baker and Meyer (2011) found that White participants with high levels of empathy reacted similarly to Blacks in terms of their emotional responses to service failure in stores. Some studies have documented the importance of emotions in mediating responses to discrimination.…”

“…Baker and Meyer (2011) posited that when and why Whites have empathetic reactions to a service failure in a store may be a function of the value they place on the welfare of the other person. Similarly, higher levels of PSD may have increased the value participants placed on Lisa's welfare in the store and their interest in her receiving better treatment.…”

Shopping While Nonwhite: Racial Discrimination among Minority Consumers

“…With return to a reflection on race in public discourse that accompanied the election of Barak Obama as President and the contention that we may now live in a post‐racial America (Valentino and Brader ), it appears an apt time to revisit this issue. The marketplace has a storied history of consumer racial discrimination, and reconsideration allows for a contemporary examination of issues regarding shopping while “nonwhite” (Baker and Meyer ; Bennett, Hill, and Oleksiuk ). To this end, we ask the following questions to guide discovery: How widespread are experiences of racial discrimination among consumer groupings, how does it manifest, and how is it perceived across minority and majority consumers?…”