Investigating the effects of service recovery strategies on consumer forgiveness and post-trust in the food delivery sector

Abstract

Underpinned by coping theory, this study investigates the extent to which service recovery strategies (e.g., firm-level apologies; compensation; feedback loops) stimulate customer forgiveness and post-trust following service failure. Adopting a two-stage explanatory sequential mixed-method, it investigates the interplay between prior knowledge of service providers, service failure incident familiarity, recovery strategies, forgiveness, and consumer evaluations within an Iranian food delivery platform. Survey responses (n = 925) reveal the role of recovery strategies in stimulating forgiveness and post-trust following service failure. Multi-group analyses reveal gender differences therein. Quantitative findings are extended narratively by customer interviews (n = 45), which suggest proactive, open, and immediate recovery protocol enactment holds greatest value in avoiding negative consumer responses to service failure, mitigating negative outcomes (e.g., anger, frustration). This study thus expands extant understanding of foodservice platform consumption behaviors, providing valuable practical insight for industry stakeholders with regards to the nuances of service failure and recovery in the digital age.