Proactive Complaint Management: Effects of Customer Voice Initiation on Perceived Justices, Satisfaction, and Negative Word-of-Mouth

Phimai Nuansi,Piya Ngamcharoenmongkol

doi:10.1177/21582440211040788

Abstract

Customer complaint or customer voice has been recognized as a key response to service failure that activates service recovery. This study aims at investigating how managing customer voice affects service recovery evaluation. Building on the concept of initiation, this study conceptualizes three conditions of service recovery, namely, service recovery based on customer-initiated voice, service recovery based on firm-initiated voice, and service recovery based on no voice. Using an experimental design, the present study investigates how customer evaluations of service recovery vary across voice initiation conditions. The multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) reveals that firm-initiated voice, compared with customer-initiated voice, elevates customer perceived justice and satisfaction while diminishing negative word-of-mouth intention. The research findings emphasize the necessity to activate customer’s voice following a service encounter so that service failure can be identified and addressed, which helps in improving customer evaluation of service recovery attempts.

Highlights

A considerable body of service literature has recognized service failure as a major issue in service business as it is unavoidable and invariably causes customer dissatisfaction (Berry, 2016; Hart et al, 1989; Tax & Brown, 2012)
Building on the concept of initiation, this study examines how service recovery evaluation varies depending on different voice initiation conditions
Service recovery based on firm-initiated voice can promote higher positive evaluations of perceived distributive justice, perceived interactional justice, satisfaction, and negative word-of-mouth intention compared with service recovery based on customer-initiated voice and service recovery based on no voice

Summary

Introduction

A considerable body of service literature has recognized service failure as a major issue in service business as it is unavoidable and invariably causes customer dissatisfaction (Berry, 2016; Hart et al, 1989; Tax & Brown, 2012). An appropriate response can promote customer’s service recovery cooperation intention, satisfaction, engagement, and positive behavioral outcomes, for example, positive word-of-mouth, electronic word-of-mouth revisions, and repurchasing behavior (e.g., Cambra-Fierro et al, 2016; de Matos et al, 2011; Harun et al, 2019; Hennig-Thurau et al, 2004; Huang et al, 2020; Huang & Ha, 2020; Komunda & Osarenkhoe, 2012; Yoo, 2020), suggesting it is essential for service organizations to be aware of service failure when it occurs. Extant literature provides considerable insight into the necessity of customer complaint or customer voice following service failure, and customer response logic suggests that customer voice offers a service recovery opportunity to the service provider to restore the customer–firm relationship and improve service quality (e.g., Kim et al, 2010; Lovelock et al, 2001; Ro, 2014; Tax & Brown, 2012). The present study strives to uncover how service organizations can handle service failure experiences of customers in a way that lessens their perceived complaining difficulty, time, and effort, together with enhancing their positive experience of service recovery

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