Developing Compelling Online Recovery Strategies

Abstract

The Internet offers a platform over which complaining is effortless, yet impactful. A wide and geographically dispersed audience can be reached over the Internet, and compared to offline environments, switching is easier on the Internet since customers can browse, and look for alternative providers with ease. In light of this, gaining an understanding of how to manage online service failures effectively is crucial to the success of firms operating in online environments. Extant research has mainly investigated customer reactions to service failure and recovery encounters taking place in offline brick and mortar outlets. The internet, along with other emerging technologies offers consumers several platforms to interact with others and to subsequently complain about service failure. Drawing on extant studies, this chapter focuses on how service failure and effective recovery strategies can enhance the competitive position of organisations.