TY - JOUR
T1 - The Long-Term Impact of Service Failure and Recovery
AU - Norvell, Tim
AU - Kumar, Piyush
AU - Dass, Mayukh
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2018/11/1
Y1 - 2018/11/1
N2 - This article examines customers’ short-term attitudinal and long-term behavioral responses to service failures and recovery efforts. Our data from a tracking study of casual dining restaurants customers indicate that those who did not experience any failure were more satisfied than those who experienced successful recovery following a failure. The satisfactory recovery group, in turn, was more satisfied than customers who either did not complain or were not successfully recovered following their complaints. Importantly, the pattern of brand patronage over the medium and long run differed substantially from the short-term variation in satisfaction levels across the four customer groups. In the medium term, the brand visitation frequency for those who never experienced failure was similar to those of customers who were successfully recovered. The visitation frequencies of customers who did not complain or were not successfully recovered were lower. However, over the long run, the visitation pattern changed substantially, and those who never experienced failure had higher brand patronage frequency than all the three remaining groups that behaved relatively similarly. These results suggest that customers make a distinction between the qualities of the core service and the recovery effort. Although successful recovery temporarily compensates for core failure, its positive influence dissipates over time. In the longer term, customers’ complaining behavior and the firm’s recovery efforts matters less and customers’ brand patronage depends largely on whether or not they experienced core service failure. Nevertheless, firms can recover their investments in service recovery because of increased brand patronage in the medium term.
AB - This article examines customers’ short-term attitudinal and long-term behavioral responses to service failures and recovery efforts. Our data from a tracking study of casual dining restaurants customers indicate that those who did not experience any failure were more satisfied than those who experienced successful recovery following a failure. The satisfactory recovery group, in turn, was more satisfied than customers who either did not complain or were not successfully recovered following their complaints. Importantly, the pattern of brand patronage over the medium and long run differed substantially from the short-term variation in satisfaction levels across the four customer groups. In the medium term, the brand visitation frequency for those who never experienced failure was similar to those of customers who were successfully recovered. The visitation frequencies of customers who did not complain or were not successfully recovered were lower. However, over the long run, the visitation pattern changed substantially, and those who never experienced failure had higher brand patronage frequency than all the three remaining groups that behaved relatively similarly. These results suggest that customers make a distinction between the qualities of the core service and the recovery effort. Although successful recovery temporarily compensates for core failure, its positive influence dissipates over time. In the longer term, customers’ complaining behavior and the firm’s recovery efforts matters less and customers’ brand patronage depends largely on whether or not they experienced core service failure. Nevertheless, firms can recover their investments in service recovery because of increased brand patronage in the medium term.
KW - casual dining
KW - complaining behavior
KW - customer retention
KW - restaurants
KW - satisfaction
KW - service quality
KW - service recovery
KW - service recovery paradox
KW - word-of-mouth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044752479&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1938965518762835
DO - 10.1177/1938965518762835
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044752479
SN - 1938-9655
VL - 59
SP - 376
EP - 389
JO - Cornell Hospitality Quarterly
JF - Cornell Hospitality Quarterly
IS - 4
ER -