Back Issues 11-20

RELATIONSHIP AMONG PROBLEMATIC CUSTOMER BEHAVIORS, SERVICE RECOVERIES, AND POST-RECOVERY SATISFACTION: RECOVERY EXPECTANCY DISCONFIRMATION AND PERCEIVED FAIRNESS PERSPECTIVES

Hsi-Tien Chen

Department of Leisure Industry Management, 

National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung City, Taiwan

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Hsueh-Feng Chang

Department of Tourism Management, 

National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

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Ching-Hsin Wang

Department of Leisure Industry Management, 

National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung City, Taiwan

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Zi-Na Hsu

Department of Leisure Industry Management, 

National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung City, Taiwan

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Abstract

The previous studies of service failure were particularly focused on employees and companies. Few studies on the negative impacts of problematic customer behaviors (PCBs) in terms of customer recovery expectancy disconfirmation (RED) and perceived fairness (PF) have been conducted. This paper aims to verify whether consumers’ RED, PF, and post-recovery satisfaction are affected by the PCB types and service recovery approaches (RAs). Having adopted the virtual situational experiment and the questionnaire survey, the experimental design of this paper used the 4×2 between-subject factorial design for two factors: The eight types of experimental situation questionnaires were designed using the four PCB types, “verbal/nonverbal” and “deliberate/unintentional”, and two RAs (substantial or psychological compensation). Afterward, questionnaire surveys were conducted by convenience sampling method, and 640 valid questionnaires were collected. The results revealed that when deliberate PCBs (verbal or nonverbal) occur, the consequences are usually more serious than the unintentional ones, and the substantial recovery measures can effectively satisfy the customer’s recovery expectancy and PF (distribution fairness, interaction fairness). When unintentional PCBs occur, the psychological recovery measures generally satisfy the customer's recovery expectancy and PF (distribution fairness, interaction fairness). In addition, customers' RED and PF can significantly affect post-recovery satisfaction. The impact effects were presented sequentially as follows: interaction fairness, distribution fairness, customers’ RED, and procedural fairness. This study may compensate for the lack of academic research and could serve as a reference for service operation planning and management.

Keywords: problematic customer behaviors, service recovery, recovery expectancy disconfirmation, perceived fairness, post-recovery satisfaction