Gender differences in the intentions to voice complaints across different service failure modes

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe present study investigates the joint impact of the service failure mode (interpersonal service versus self-service technology) and gender on consumers’ intention to voice their complaints. Results from a quasi-experiment suggest that female consumers are more likely to voice their dissatisfaction following a self-service technology failure rather than an interpersonal failure. However, the service failure mode fails to influence male consumers’ complaint intentions. Moreover, our findings indicate that motivation to help is the mechanism behind female consumers’ complaint behaviors, thus mediating the effect of service failure mode on complaint intention. Therefore, hospitality practitioners might want to pay attention to the differences in each gender’s complaint behaviors across different service failure modes and provide effective service recovery solutions across the two genders.