The negative effects of expecting to evaluate: Reexamination and extension in the context of service failure

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 857-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki R. Lane ◽  
Susan M. Keaveney
Keyword(s):  
Service Failure ◽  
Negative Effects

Is consumer forgiveness possible?

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1567-1587 ◽  
Author(s):  
JungYun (Christine) Hur ◽  
SooCheong (Shawn) Jang
Keyword(s):  
Service Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Recovery Strategies ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Hotel Managers

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how consumer forgiveness is formed by examining rumination and distraction by consumers in hotel service failures.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a self-administered questionnaire in the USA. A total of 371 usable responses were obtained. Anderson and Gerbing’s two-step approach was used to assess the measurement and structural models.FindingsThis study suggests that rumination and distraction play significant roles in processing consumer forgiveness. Self-focused rumination and distraction increase consumer forgiveness, whereas provocation-focused rumination exacerbates the negative effects of service failure severity on consumer forgiveness. This study also shows that gender differences exist. Men were more likely than women to link self-focused rumination and distraction to their intentions to forgive a service provider.Practical implicationsThis study is helpful for hotel managers to understand the mechanisms of consumer forgiveness in service failures and develop effective recovery strategies. Managers should aim to lessen consumers’ provocation-focused rumination while encouraging self-focused rumination and distraction. In addition, because of the differences in the process of consumer forgiveness between men and women, it is critical to differentiate the two groups in designing targeted recovery strategies for service failures.Originality/valueThis study investigates consumer forgiveness as a behavioral outcome following service failures that may help consumers achieve psychological balance and allow service providers a chance to restore the broken relationship. This study adds new information for understanding consumer responses and provides a basis for effective service management strategies.

The bright and dark sides of humorous response to online customer complaint

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 2013-2047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyunju Shin ◽  
Lindsay R.L. Larson
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Corporate Image ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Complaints ◽  
Customer Complaint

Purpose Displaying a sense of humour provides various interpersonal benefits including reducing tension and promoting conflict resolution, but should a firm use humour in response to publicly viewable online customer complaints after a service failure? The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that a firm’s use of humour in response to negative online consumer reviews has both positive and negative effects on perceptions of corporate image from a customer-as-onlooker perspective. Design/methodology/approach Three experimental studies are conducted and analysis of variance is used to empirically test the hypotheses. Findings Although humorous responses have an unfavourable influence on perceived trustworthiness of the firm, they have a favourable influence on perceived excitingness of the firm. The former influence is tied to lower perceived firm sincerity, whereas the latter is tied to higher perceived firm innovativeness and coolness. Furthermore, humour within the customer complaint itself is shown to moderate the influence of humorous responses on perceptions of the firm. Finally, regardless of the type of humour used (i.e. affiliative or aggressive humour) in the humorous response, the positive effect of humorous response remains strong, although aggressive humour further aggravates the negative impact of humorous response on trustworthiness. Research limitations/implications The experimental set-up may limit external validity of the study, and the research is limited to the variables examined. Practical implications Humorous response is identified as a non-traditional approach to online customer complaints that poses a double-edged sword for managers of service organizations. Firms should avoid using humour in online service recovery if perceptions of trustworthiness are critical or if complaints are written in a neutral tone. However, such responses may be successfully used when a firm wants to position itself as exciting and if complaints are also humorous. Finally, firms are advised to avoid aggressive humour. Originality/value The present research represents one of the few studies in marketing to examine the potential of injecting humour into complaint management and service recovery. In addition, this study considers the consumer-as-onlooker perspective inherent in social media.

Perceptions of Group Versus Individual Service Failures and Their Effects on Customer Outcomes

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne K. Albrecht ◽  
Gianfranco Walsh ◽  
Sharon E. Beatty
Keyword(s):  
Service Provider ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Group Versus ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Blame Attribution ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Blame Attributions ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Individual Service

A service failure and its negative effects can involve multiple customers at the same time, which suggests the need to understand the psychological mechanisms that underlie differential perceptions of group service failures (GSFs) versus individual service failures (ISFs) as well as their related outcomes. With an attributional framework, this article reports on two experiments that varied in their blame-attribution ambiguity. The results reveal that customers experience greater anger and show higher negative word-of-mouth and complaint intentions after a GSF versus an ISF. These differential effects are mediated by blame attributions, such that GSFs cause customers to blame the service provider more than ISFs. Customer entitlement also moderates the effect of the failure context (GSF vs. ISF) on blame attribution, contingent on perceptions of whether the service provider or customer violated an existing rule. Thus, we find that customers respond differently to service failures depending on the context. Managerial implications include separating customers from each other when GSFs are likely to take place, using techniques to redirect customer’s blame attributions to sources other than the service provider after a GSF and using customer scripts to minimize the occurrence of customer-induced service failures.

Will You Tolerate This? The Impact of Affective Commitment on Complaint Intention and Postrecovery Behavior

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiner Evanschitzky ◽  
Christian Brock ◽  
Markus Blut
Keyword(s):  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Purchase Behavior ◽  
Management Process ◽  
Allocation Of Resources ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Complaint Management ◽  
Service Failures ◽  
Complaint Satisfaction ◽  
The Impact

Successful complaint management primarily depends on customers' willingness to voice their complaints and on companies' ability to adequately deal with these complaints. This article investigates the impact of one relationship characteristic in the complaint management process: affective commitment. Based on two studies, the authors investigate whether affective commitment moderates the impact of complaint barriers on complaint intention (a) and whether it moderates the link between complaint satisfaction and purchase behavior after the complaint (b). Results show that affectively committed customers exhibit higher complaint intention irrespective of the level of complaint barriers. Furthermore, affectively committed customers display little change in their postrecovery behavior, even after a service failure followed by an unsatisfactory recovery attempt. It seems that these customers are tolerant and want to help the provider improve their business. Affective commitment seems to amplify willingness to help the company by means of voicing dissatisfaction despite considerable efforts in doing so. Moreover, affective commitment buffers the negative effects of service failures on postrecovery behavior. Findings have important implications for managers. They highlight the necessity to measure customers' affective commitment. Based on that, tailored complaint systems can be designed, which help in achieving a more effective allocation of resources for customer recovery.

Webcare’s effect on constructive and vindictive complainants

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang J. Weitzl
Keyword(s):  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Goal Orientations ◽  
Negative Word ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Online Experiment ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Defensive Responses

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate that online complainants’ reactions to a company’s service recovery attempts (webcare) can significantly vary across two different types of dissatisfied customers (“vindictives” vs “constructives”), who have dramatically diverging complaint goal orientations. Design/methodology/approach Online multi-country survey among 812 adult consumers who recently had a dissatisfying brand experience and turned to a marketer-generated social media site to voice an online complaint for achieving their ultimate complaining goals. Scenario-based online experiment for cross-validating the survey findings. Findings Results suggest that “vindictive complainants” – driven dominantly by brand-adverse motives – are immune to any form of webcare, while “constructive complainants” – interested in restoring the customer-brand relationship – react more sensitively. For the latter, “no-responses” often trigger detrimental brand-related reactions (e.g. unfavorable brand image), whereas “defensive responses” are likely to stimulate post-webcare negative word-of-mouth. Research limitations/implications This research identifies the gains and harms of (un-)desired webcare. By doing so, it not only sheds light on the circumstances when marketers have to fear negative effects (e.g. negative word-of-mouth) but also provides insights into the conditions when such effects are unlikely. While the findings of the cross-sectional survey are validated with an online experiment, findings should be interpreted with care as other complaining contexts should be further investigated. Practical implications Marketers have to expect a serious “backfiring effect” from an unexpected source, namely, consumers who were initially benevolent toward the involved brand but who received an inappropriate response. Originality/value This research is one of the first research studies that enables marketers to identify situations when webcare is likely to backfire on the brand after a service failure.

Service recovery in unaffected consumers: evidence of a recovery paradox

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Wardley
Keyword(s):  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Service Failure ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Service Recovery Paradox ◽  
Recovery Effort ◽  
A Minor ◽  
A Company

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effects of a general service recovery effort in consumers who were not victims of the service failure. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a 2 × 2 between-subjects design comparing a service failure announcement with apology and an anniversary event announcement, either with a 15% discount or no discount on purchase intentions. Findings A service recovery effort involving an apology and 15% discount leads to higher purchase intention in consumers who were not victims of the service failure in comparison to a control. The unexpected apology generates surprise, which amplifies the effect of the discount, leading to higher purchase intention. Practical implications The results of this study suggest that apologizing and offering a discount for a minor service failure can have positive effects on consumers who were not victims of the service failure. Thus, if a company is unsure which consumers have been affected by a service failure, this study shows that issuing a general apology for the failure does not have negative effects in unaffected consumers. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first to examine the effects of a service recovery effort in consumers who were not victims of the service failure and the first to find evidence of a service recovery paradox in unaffected consumers.

Undesirable Effects of Goal Setting on Perceived Fairness, Commitment, and Unethical Behavior

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Keith
Keyword(s):  
Goal Setting ◽  
Unethical Behavior ◽  
The United States ◽  
Goal Commitment ◽  
Management Technique ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Perceived Fairness ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
And Performance

Abstract. The positive effects of goal setting on motivation and performance are among the most established findings of industrial–organizational psychology. Accordingly, goal setting is a common management technique. Lately, however, potential negative effects of goal-setting, for example, on unethical behavior, are increasingly being discussed. This research replicates and extends a laboratory experiment conducted in the United States. In one of three goal conditions (do-your-best goals, consistently high goals, increasingly high goals), 101 participants worked on a search task in five rounds. Half of them (transparency yes/no) were informed at the outset about goal development. We did not find the expected effects on unethical behavior but medium-to-large effects on subjective variables: Perceived fairness of goals and goal commitment were least favorable in the increasing-goal condition, particularly in later goal rounds. Results indicate that when designing goal-setting interventions, organizations may consider potential undesirable long-term effects.

The Effect of Suicide-Related Internet Use on Users’ Mental Health

Crisis ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 348-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajime Sueki
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Psychological Effects ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Suicide Methods ◽  
Internet Users

Background: Previous studies have shown that suicide-related Internet use can have both negative and positive psychological effects. Aims: This study examined the effect of suicide-related Internet use on users’ suicidal ideation, depression/anxiety tendency, and loneliness. Method: A two-wave panel study of 850 Internet users was conducted via the Internet. Results: Suicide-related Internet use (e.g., browsing websites about suicide methods) had negative effects on suicidal ideation and depression/anxiety tendency. No forms of suicide-related Internet use, even those that would generally be considered positive, were found to decrease users’ suicidal ideation. In addition, our results suggest that the greater the suicidal ideation and feelings of depression and loneliness of Internet users, the more they used the Internet. Conclusion: Since suicide-related Internet use can adversely influence the mental health of young adults, it is necessary to take measures to reduce their exposure to such information.

Searching Online for Methods of Suicide

Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Christian Ulrich Eriksen ◽  
Flemming Konradsen ◽  
Thilde Vildekilde
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Online Content ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Methods Of Suicide

Abstract. Background: Information on methods of suicide is available online, and access to information on methods of suicide appears to contribute to a small but significant proportion of suicides. There is limited documentation of how methods of suicide are being profiled, as well as what content exists in other languages than English. Aim: We aimed to analyze and compare how methods of suicide are profiled on Danish and English-language websites. Method: We applied a categorization and content analysis of websites describing methods of suicide. Sites were retrieved by applying widely used Danish and English-language search terms. Results: A total of 136 English-language websites and 106 Danish-language websites were included for analysis. Websites were more often categorized as prevention or support sites, academic or policy sites, and against suicide sites than dedicated suicide sites (i.e., pro-suicide sites), or information sites. However, information on methods of suicide was available, and 20.1% and 8.9% of the English and Danish-language sites, respectively, suggested that a particular method of suicide was quick, easy, painless, or certain to result in death. Limitations: Only one author coded and analyzed all websites. A further operationalization of the content analysis checklist is warranted to increase reliability. Conclusion: The websites primarily had a prevention or anti-suicide focus, but information on methods of suicide was available, requiring an increased focus on how to diminish the negative effects of harmful online content.

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