The impact of perceived crowding on customers’ desire for revenge in service failure situations and its underlying mechanisms

Service failure is a common problem that creates feelings of displeasure and dislike among consumers towards the service. Such feelings trigger negative word of mouth (NWOM) and desire to take revenge due to the anger and regret they feel caused by the service failure. However, there seldom any research on these emotional aspects of service failure in Pakistan related to consumers’ motivation regarding such dire actions has been conducted in Pakistani context. This study therefore has examined the effects of negative emotions on the consumer's desire for revenge and spreading of negative word of mouth set off by having a bad experience using the delivery service of foodpanda[1]. The sample size comprised of 280 participants. The questionnaire consisted of four sections based on four constructs. SPSS and SmartPLS softwares were used to test and analyze the validity, reliability, measurement and structural model. The results highlighted that anger and regret had a positive and significant effect on NWOM. The study further found that anger and regret had no significant effect on the desire for revenge. Similarly, no such relationship was identified between revenge and NWOM. Likewise, there was no significant relationship between revenge and NWOM.
 
 [1] Foodpanda is a food delivery service

1.IntroductionMarketing literature has been revolving around the consumer for the past decade. Finding the perfect fit between the service provider and the customer together with increasing emphasis on diversity has been a challenge. Adapting to the reality of diverse business environment required restructuring. In order to customize their services for the diverse consumer groups, firms have been spending billions of dollars for recruiting and training the workforce for the market. However, literature has not emphasized the diversity issue enough in order to lead the way for executives in the market place.The literature in general has recognized the value in customer and market orientation. Organizations are constantly learning to adapt to the market that they are operating in. When the organization is able to function the way that fits in with the expectations of the market, they benefit from this. The key in adapting towards the needs and wants of customers is all about finding out the expectations of them. Service failure literature has investigated this issue deeply. Customer's expectations have a great impact on how they perceive the service received by the service provider. For instance, Bolton and Mattila (2015), reports that warmth in communal relationships between the customer and the failed service provider is needed for rapid service recovery. According to the authors, how customers perceive the company, even in areas not directly related to consumer-buyer relationships, such as corporate social responsibility, shapes customers' perceptions and in return their willingness forgive in case of a service failure.The strategy literature talks about the advantages of early entrants and how when under certain circumstances, late entrants can also be successful in the same market despite all the advantages of the early entrants (Varadarajan et al., 2008). The main reason for their success remains to be able to adapt and offer a cost efficient product that serves the same function with the competitor, in other words creating a competitive advantage. A competitive advantage can truly serve its purpose when it is hard to imitate and it serves as a differential advantage that is appealing to the target market.Customer expectations change based on both the market and the quality and the type of service that the firm offers. Even though the goods and services offered may be similar, the expectations of the customers may be different. In a service failure situation, the recovery expectations of customers also vary based even when the goods and services are very similar. The reason for this is because of cultural differences between the customer and the service provider. Therefore the service provider should be aware of the varying service recovery expectations and adapt to these in order to gain the customer for a returned purchase (Ringberg et al., 2007).Service recovery literature has long found evidence that when customers experience a series of service failures and recovery attempts, their perception changes based on the most recent recovery attempt. The repurchase intent of the customers increases when they experience satisfactory recovery attempts. A study has tested the impacts when customers experience two service failures. The findings indicate that, when customers experience a satisfactory recovery effect after an unsatisfactory recovery effect the recent experience is the one remembered in future purchasing decisions (Maxham and Netemeyer, 2002). In addition, after a service failure, when poor service recoveries are present, this creates a double deviation effect and has a compounding effect on the already low customer evaluations (Maxham and Netemeyer, 2002).Experiencing a service failure with a recognized brand also changes the perceptions of the customers toward the service failure. Roehm et al. (2007) indicated that when the responses or recovery attempts are timed immediately after the failure, high equity brands fare the best. …

A customer’s revenge can significantly impact a company’s reputation. After a service failure, a desire for revenge is created and customers can decide to either commit direct or indirect revenge. With direct revenge, customers have a direct altercation with the company’s staff and albeit negative, it allows companies the opportunity for service recovery. Indirect revenge, on the other hand, is much more damaging where customers partake in negative Word Of Mouth (WOM) both online and offline. Therefore, better understanding customer revenge behaviour is important for marketing managers. Two key issues have not been resolved in the customer revenge debate: first, what the influence of relationship quality is. Does relationship quality negatively impact desire for revenge or the so-called “love is blind” approach; or does relationship quality increase the likelihood of desire for revenge and eventual revenge behaviour; or the “love is hate” approach. The second issue is what the role of consumer power and empowerment has on whether consumers partake in direct or indirect revenge. Through a self-completion survey, this study finds support for the “love is blind” approach, finding that relationship satisfaction reduces the desire for revenge. In addition, it shows that power was positively related to customers’ desire for revenge and empowerment positively related to their direct revenge behaviours, the better of the two evils. The study outlines how firms can use customer relationship management to manage customer satisfaction and empowerment in order to protect their equity and reputation in the event of a service failure. Key words: Relationship satisfaction, desire for revenge, revenge behaviour, power, empowerment.

Within the services marketing literature there is a plethora of research on service failure and recovery, in particular with regards to outcomes such as customer satisfaction with service recovery as well as alternate evaluations of service recovery performance. However, to date, there is very limited literature on reconciliation as an outcome, particularly in conjunction with other dyadic conflict-related behaviours such as retaliation and avoidance, and other factors which predict these conflict-related dyadic states. By presenting three studies, study A which is a published manuscript, and B (unpublished manuscript) which is mostly separate from study A, and study C (unpublished manuscript) which synthesises constructs from both studies A and B, this thesis attempts to answer in a positivistic manner, the following research questions: RQ1: What is the role of service failure severity in predicting reconciliation, retaliation and avoidance after service failure? RQ2: What is the agent likeability’s role in predicting outcomes such as reconciliation and retaliation after service failure? RQ3: What role does agent empathy have in predicting outcomes such as reconciliation, retaliation and avoidance after service failure? RQ4: What role does an agent apologising sincerely have in predicting outcomes such as reconciliation, retaliation and avoidance after service failure? RQ5: What role does service recovery justice have in predicting outcomes such as reconciliation and retaliation after service failure? RQ6: What kind of post-recovery behaviours does reconciliation entail? Study A utilised a quasi-experimental survey approach where participants were sourced from a university library. Both studies B and C used a survey that required participants to recall a service failure and answer all questions based on that recollection, and where data from both studies B and C were collected through an online panel. Study A for the first time introduces the concept of likeability of the service agent to the literature regarding service failure and recovery and related this to outcome variables such as customer satisfaction with service recovery as well as reconciliation. The results of study A indicated that likeability of the agent was important in predicting customer satisfaction with service recovery and also reconciliation. The implications for managers of this study are to hire from within the customer base or target market since individuals are likely to reconcile with others who are similar to them when misdeeds are committed, as is the case with service failure. Study A is presented as a published manuscript and is relatively short in length. The purpose of study B was to examine the mediating role of reconciliation between failure severity and customer retaliation/avoidance and the moderating roles of empathy and apology in this path model. The findings from study B indicated that both empathy and apology had moderating effects between service failure severity and the mediator variable of reconciliation and the dependent variable of retaliation; but both did not moderate avoidance. Also, reconciliation mediated the relationship between service failure severity toward retaliation and avoidance, while service failure severity also had direct relationships with the two dependents. The implications of this study include that service agents need to be screened for qualities such as empathy and ability to be apologetic which can help ensure better outcomes following service failures. Study B, since it is mostly distinct from study A, is presented as a short unpublished manuscript in comparison with study C. The purpose of study C was to combine and expand on the findings of both studies A and B. In this study, the constructs of likeability of an agent, service failure severity, empathy/apology, distributive justice and interactional justice as well as reconciliation and retaliation were further examined. It was determined that the likeability of an agent, similar to study A, positively predicted reconciliation, but that also, counter to expectations, it also positively predicted customer retaliation. Moreover, it was also found that empathy and apology had moderating roles between agent likeability and distributive justice, whereas service failure severity had a moderating role between agent likeability and interactional justice. Lastly, distributive justice played a mediating role between agent likeability, and reconciliation and interactional justice had a mediating role between agent likeability and retaliation. This research reinforces the implications of study A and B by demonstrating similar roles of likeability, failure severity, empathy and apology in the service recovery process, however, adds to studies A and B by highlighting that there is also a negative side to likeability where customers may react more negatively to service agent’s they deem more likeable. Study C is presented as a very long manuscript since it resembles, in terms of breadth, the overall topic of this thesis. Studies A and B act as shortened manuscripts since they do not resemble what this overall thesis is about in terms of them being standalone articles. Overall, this thesis underpins reconciliation as an important construct concerning critical incidences, and to a lesser extent retaliation and avoidance, particularly within the realm of service organisations, with agent likeability, empathy and apology having significant effects on such outcomes. All constructs involved, particularly in study C, denote a framework postulating prosocial behaviours and traits as pertinent to resolving conflict amid service failure and hence can act as a gauge for service organisations to assess their relationships with customers and clients and how they can respond to ensure business success.

PurposeThis study aims to identify the impact that Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy tendencies have on avoidance and revenge-seeking after a service failure. The research examines the role that negative affect and desire for revenge play in aggressive behaviors by consumers.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a survey research methodology. The measurement model is validated using CFA, and hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling. The mediated and serially mediated relationships are calculated using the bootstrap method by creating estimands to test the effects.FindingsMachiavellianism is less likely to drive avoidance and negative affect, reducing desire for revenge, negative word of mouth and vindictive complaining. Those with narcissism tendencies are likely to develop a negative affect and a corresponding desire for revenge after the failure only if negative affect is developed. Consumers who exhibit psychopathy tendencies are likely to seek out revenge directly.Practical implicationsEach Dark Triad tendency influences consumer avoidance and revenge-seeking in different ways when a consumer’s goals are impeded. Companies can focus on service recoveries differently based on the types of tendencies of consumers engaging in avoidance and revenge-seeking.Originality/valueThe individual paths from Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy tendencies to avoidance and revenge-seeking are developed and analyzed. Further distinctions between each Dark Triad tendency aids service providers in addressing and preparing for these consumer behaviors.

Akamavi, R K., Mohamed, E., Pellmann, K., & Xu, Y. (2015). Key determinants of passenger loyalty in the low-cost airline business. Tourism Management, 46, 528-545. Baldus, B.J., Voorhees, C., & Calantone, R. (2015). Online brand community engagement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Business Research, 68(5), 978-985. Boo, H.V. (2017). Service Environment of Restaurants: Findings from the youth customers. Journal of Asian Behavioural Studies, 2(2), 67-77. Bowen, T.J., & Chen, S.L. (2015). Transitioning Loyalty Programs: A Commentary on the Relationship Between Customer Loyalty & Customer Satisfaction. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3), 415-430. Casidy, R., & Shin, H. (2015). The effects of harm directions and service recovery strategies on customer forgiveness and negative word-of-mouth intentions. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 27, 103-112. Chang, J.H. (2017). The role of relationship on time and monetary compensation. The Service Industries Journal, 37, 915-935. Fan, A., Mattila, A.S., & Zhao, X. (2015). How does social distance impact customers’ complaint intentions? A cross-cultural examination. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 47, 35-42. Gohary, A., Hamzelu, B., & Alizadeh, H. (2016). Please explain why it happened! How perceived justice and customer involvement affect post co-recovery evaluations: a study of Iranian online shoppers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 31, 127-142. Guo, L., Lotz, S.L., Tang, C., & Gruen, T.W. (2015). The role of perceived control in customer value cocreation and service recovery evaluation. Journal of Service Research, 19(1), 39-56. Heidenreich, S., Wittkowski, K., Handrich, M., & Falk, T. (2015). The dark side of customer co-creation: exploring the consequences of failed co-created services. The Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(3), 279-296. Hsu, C.L., & Lin, J.C.C. (2016). Effect of perceived value and social influences onmobile app stickiness and in-app purchase intention.Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 108, 42-53. Kashif, M., Zarkada, A., & Ramayah, T. (2016).The impact of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control on managers’ intentions to behave ethically. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 29(5-6), 1-21. Li, M., Qiu, S.C., & Liu, Z., (2016). The Chinese way of response to hospitality service failure: The effects of face and guanxi. International Journal Hospital Management, 57, 18-29. Liu, S.Q., & Mattila, A.S. (2015). “I Want to Help” versus “I Am Just Mad” how affective commitment influences customer feedback decisions. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 56(2), 213-222. Oman, B., Pepur, M., & Arneric, J. (2016). The impact of service quality and sport-team identification on the repurchase intention. Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 21(1), 19-46. Ozuem, W., Patel, A., Howell, K.E. & Lancaster, G. (2016). An Exploration of Consumers' Response to Online Service Recovery Initiatives. International Journal of Market Research, 59(1), 97-115. Park, J., & Ha, S. (2016). Co-creation of service recovery: Utilitarian and hedonic value and post-recovery responses. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 28, 310-316. Rezaei, S., Shahijan, M.K., Amin, M., & Ismail, W.K.W. (2016). Determinants ofapp stores continuance behavior: A pls path modellingapproach. Journal of Internet Commerce, 15(4), 408-440. Sengupta, S.A., Balaji, M., & Krishnan, B.C. (2015). How customers cope with service failure? A study of brand reputation and customer satisfaction. Journal of Business Research, 68(3), 665-674. Sloan, S., Bodey, K., & Gyrd-Jones, R. (2015). Knowledge sharing in online brand communities. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 18(3), 320-345. Tan, C., Benbasat, I. & Cenfetelli, R.T. (2016). An Exploratory Study of the Formation and Impact of Electronic Service Failures. MIS Quarterly, 40(1), 1-31. Van Vaerenbergh, Y., & Orsingher, C. (2016). Service Recovery: An Integrative Framework and Research Agenda. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 30(3), 328-346. Varela, J.C.S., Svensson, G., Brambilla, F.R., & Oliveros, M.E.G. (2015) Perceived Justice & Emotions in a Negative Service Encounter: A Latin American Perspective. In: Kubacki K. (eds). Ideas in Marketing: Finding the New and Polishing the Old. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Cham: Springer. Vyas, V. & Raitani, S. (2015). A Study of the Impact of Relationship Marketing on Cross-Buying. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 14(2), 79-108. Weber, K., Sparks, B., & Hsu, C.H. (2016). The effects of acculturation, social distinctiveness, and social presence in a service failure situation. International Journal Hospital Management, 56, 44-55. Wu, J., Huang, L., Zhao, J.L., & Hua, Z. (2015).The deeper, the better? Effect of online brand community activity on customer purchase frequency. Information & Management, 52(7), 813-823. Yang, A., Chen, Y., & Huang, Y. (2017). Enhancing customer loyalty in tourism services: the role of customer-company identification and customer participation. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 22(7), 735-746. Zhang, H., Zhang, K.Z., Lee, M.K., & Feng, F. (2015). Brand loyalty in enterprise microblogs: Influence of community commitment, IT habit, and participation. Information Technology & People, 28(2), 304-326.

Helping is pervasive in daily workplace activities. Although helping is typically thought of as a prosocial behavior, it can also result in unethical behavior in certain circumstances. Based on ego-depletion theory and moral disengagement literature, we examined when and how this process can occur. We tested a serial mediation model in which reactive helping (in response to external factors), but not proactive helping (internally motivated) can lead to helpers’ ego depletion and in turn moral disengagement, ultimately increasing the risk that they would engage in unethical behavior. Data collected from 279 working adults across three consecutive workdays provided support for our proposed model. Results indicated that reactive helping, rather than proactive helping, had a positive indirect effect on unethical behavior via the mediation of both ego depletion and moral disengagement separately, as well as the serial mediation of depletion and moral disengagement. We discuss these results in terms of understanding motivations for helping, and in terms of their implications for organizational behavior with respect to helping in the workplace.

This study investigates the complex relationship between Transgression type (for‐profit vs. non‐profit) and individual‐level variables in shaping moral perceptions and online victimization of wrongdoer organizations (OVWOM) following transgressions by conducting two experimental studies (N1 = 111, N2 = 164). Study 1 utilizes real‐world organizations to investigate the impact of transgression type (for‐profit vs. non‐profit), whereas Study 2 employs fictitious entities to alleviate potential response bias and focuses on moral disengagement as a moderating factor. Findings reveal a decrease in perceived morality post‐transgression across both transgression types, with non‐profits not eliciting significantly higher OVWOM. However, the influence of transgression type on perceived morality is found to be contingent upon individual moral disengagement, affecting OVWOM in Study 2. Moreover, factors such as desire for revenge, social desirability bias, gender, and educational background emerge as significant predictors of perceived morality and OVWOM. These results highlight the nuanced nature of public responses to organizational transgressions, emphasizing the complex interplay between organizational characteristics and individual psychological mechanisms. The study underscores the necessity of integrating moral disengagement and individual‐level factors into crisis management strategies for organizations.

Purpose– This research aims to examine the consequences of customer justice perception and the role of customer affection in the context of service failure and recovery.Design/methodology/approach– Survey data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.Findings– The authors' findings indicate that procedural and interactional justice perceptions significantly influence customer affection, with distributive justice perception being significant only if the failure severity is high. The present research also provides evidence for the links between customer affection and loyalty, and customer affection and word-of-mouth respectively, indicating that strengthening the emotional tie between customers and companies is crucial after service failure and recovery.Research limitations/implications– The present research makes a significant contribution by demonstrating the relationship between customer affection and other key constructs such as justice perception, customer loyalty, and word-of-mouth intention.Practical implications– Customers' distributive justice perception has a significant impact on customer affection especially in a severe service failure situation. Therefore, managers may need to provide monetary compensation for service recovery in a timely manner along with apologies to enhance customer affection when customers experience a high-magnitude service failure. On the other hand, in the case of a low-magnitude service recovery, providing apologies and prompt response to service failures may be enough to win customers back.Originality/value– The current findings highlight the importance of customer affection in service recovery. The effect of customers' distributive justice perception on customer affection, which is moderated by service failure severity, is also highlighted.

Effects of different service failure types and recovery strategies on the consumer response mechanism of chatbots

Despite considerable effort by organisations to provide excellent service, service failures occur. Increasingly, as the business environment becomes more dynamic and complex, it is unrealistic to expect service delivery to be completely error free (Bansal and Taylor 1999; Keaveney 1995a). When service failure occurs, firms are advised to put in effort to recover customers, because lost customers typically result in substantial financial and reputational loss (Hogan, Lemon and Libai 2003). Moreover, building relationships with customers is always considered as an ideal approach to avoid customers’ dissatisfaction with the recovery attempt. However, it appears that the majority (81%) of customers who complain are not happy with the complaint handling process (TARP 2001). The high percentage of dissatisfied customers suggests that current approaches to recovery are largely ineffective (Davidow 2003). In searching for explanations for the ineffectiveness of service recovery strategies, a programmatic research study was conducted. Study 1 is a qualitative study, including Study 1A and Study 1B. Study 1A was conducted on 199 consumer complaint letters, and Study 1B was conducted using 22 in-depth interviews. Study 2 is a quantitative study conducted on a consumer sample of 431 respondents. Study 2A is a scale development study and Study 2B is a structural equation modelling study. The research program is reported in seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the thesis. Chapter 2 reviews service recovery literature. Chapter 3 outlines the methodology. Chapter 4 reports the results of Study 1. Chapters 5 and 6 report results of Study 2. Finally, Chapter 7 presents the conclusions, key theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research. In sum, the thesis proposes a conceptualisation of service recovery by providing a model that highlights the different aspects of the relationships between the following constructs: (1) Customer Recovery Expectations; (2) Purchase Deliberation Recollection; (3) Customer Emotional Attachment; and (4) customer’s Recovery Expectation Disconfirmation. Customer Recovery Expectations concept reflects the customer’s perception of an appropriate recovery attempt that they prefer in a particular service recovery context. Purchase Deliberation Recollection reflects the customer’s recalled time and effort invested in the purchase deliberation process. Customer Emotional Attachment captures the emotional connection between the customer and the service provider that motivates the customer to act in the provider’s interest. Lastly, the customer’s Recovery Expectation Disconfirmation describes the customer’s comparison between their preferred recovery solution and their received recovery solution. The relationships between these constructs significantly influence the two dependent variables: the customer’s satisfaction with recovery and their repurchase intention. The findings highlight that, in service recovery, creating a customer’s positive perception of recovery expectation matching attempt is the key. To affect this, employees should understand that the customer has a recovery expectation which the organisation should attempt to match. In addition, customers with a good and long term relationship with the organisation tend to have more sympathy when service failure occurs. However, long term customers may also be more demanding and have higher expectations than short term customers. When the organisation fails to recover the service failure for a long term customer, the negative effect of not appropriately recovering may outweigh the positive benefits of having a relationship. Therefore, once a good relationship has been built, organisations should be prepared to invest more resources to maintain it through time. That is, a relationship should be maintained in normal as well as in service failure situations. The findings thus have significant theoretical and managerial implications.

Service failure and recovery remain critical issues for both academicians and marketing practitioners. Defined as a service provider’s response to a failed service, service recovery can mean the difference between a firm’s success and failure, for increasing customer retention and limiting customer defection are integral components of organizational growth and profitability. The purpose of this dissertation was two-fold: (1) to test the effects of magnitude of service failure, service failure responsiveness, and the presence of a service guarantee on customer satisfaction levels and other service recovery outcomes (Study 1); and (2) to test the effects of additional recovery effort and magnitude of service failure on customer satisfaction levels and other service recovery outcomes (Study 2). Additional objectives of Study 2 included examining the data for evidence of two posited phenomena: (1) the plateau effect, characterized by a ‘leveling off’ effect in regard to the effects on the dependent variables as service failure recovery increases, and (2) the service recovery paradox effect, evidenced by increasing levels of satisfaction and repurchase intentions as recovery remuneration increases, to the point that levels of these criterion variables are higher among those experiencing a service failure compared to those who did not experience a service failure. The results indicated several findings. Magnitude of service failure had a very strong individual and moderating influence on all outcome variables. Service failure responsiveness can have positive effects on these outcome variables, but only under the condition of a low level of magnitude of service failure. Service guarantee was found to have little effect on service outcomes. Evidence was present to indicate that a plateau effect occurs as recovery remuneration increases, and very little support was found to support the contention that the recovery paradox effect should be present as recovery remuneration increases. This research has made a contribution to the study of service failure and recovery. It is hoped that there will be continued interest in examining additional constructs, trying different methodologies, and studying new effects in this field of marketing research.

Exploring the value co-destruction model for on-line deviant behaviors of hotel customers

Examining perceived betrayal, desire for revenge and avoidance, and the moderating effect of relational benefits

Why and when witnessing uncivil behavior leads observers to punish frontline employees and leave the firm