The nature of an apology: An experimental study on how to apologize after a service failure

Roschk, Holger; Kaiser, Stephan

doi:10.1007/s11002-012-9218-x

Cited by 148 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Following Liao (2007) and Roschk and Kaiser (2013), realism of the scenarios' were assessed with a seven point semantic differential scale. Experimental realism, i.e.…”

Section: Manipulation and Realism Checksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the consequences of word of mouth from a WOM sender’s perspective in the services context

Chawdhary¹,

Riley²

2015

Journal of Marketing Management

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Employing scenario based experiments; this paper examines the effect of word of mouth (WOM) on: the sender's intention to give future WOM about the focal service provider and the self-enhancement derived from articulating WOM. Extant WOM literature considers selfenhancement as a key driver of positive WOM. This paper provides empirical evidence that a reverse effect exists and that self-enhancement is also an outcome of WOM behaviour.Results indicate that the impact of WOM on self-enhancement has substantive significance and holds for both positive and negative WOM. The effect of WOM on intentions is only partially supported. Finally, tie strength between the WOM participants partially moderates the relationship between the variables. Importantly, the impact of negative WOM is stronger than positive WOM. Summary statement of contributionExtant WOM literature widely accepts the notion that self-enhancement is a driver of positive WOM. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to empirically demonstrate that self-enhancement is an outcome of WOM behaviour irrespective of its valence. Notably, tie strength between the WOM participants moderates the effect of WOM on the sender. Finally, we provide the first empirical evidence on the relative impact of P-WOM and N-WOM on the sender.

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“…Following Liao (2007) and Roschk and Kaiser (2013), realism of the scenarios' were assessed with a seven point semantic differential scale. Experimental realism, i.e.…”

Section: Manipulation and Realism Checksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the consequences of word of mouth from a WOM sender’s perspective in the services context

Chawdhary¹,

Riley²

2015

Journal of Marketing Management

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“…Fair service recovery can be provided through organisational efforts, such as a compensation that offsets costs incurred by the customer, a timely resolution of the failure, and polite interpersonal treatment (e.g., Blodgett et al, 1997;Roschk and Kaiser, 2013;Smith et al, 1999;Tax et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Service guarantee as a recovery strategy

Crisafulli

Singh

2016

Journal of Service Management

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Purpose When a service fails, the guarantee policy of the firm can be employed as a recovery strategy. The terms of the guarantee determine the amount of payout and the ease of invoking the policy. The guarantee terms can, therefore, influence customer perceptions of recovery fairness and inferences about the firm’s intentions in providing fair recovery. The study examines the impact of guarantee terms on customer perceptions of justice, motive attributions and repatronage intentions. Design/methodology/approach A between-subjects experiment was conducted in parcel delivery services. Findings Customer perceptions of justice vary across guarantee payout levels. Payout in the form of a discount does not restore justice perceptions, and leads to inferences that the firm offered the guarantee to maximise its profits. Conversely, full refund restores justice. Full refund plus discount is perceived as undeserved, and does not enhance justice perceptions. A moderately easy-to-invoke guarantee is perceived as fair, when it includes full refund. Inferences of negative firm’s motives, however, diminish perceived fairness of easy-to-invoke guarantees. Research limitations/implications Future research could examine the interaction of guarantee scope with payout and ease of invocation, and how types of motives differentially impact justice perceptions. Practical implications Full refund can enhance justice perceptions, whereas discount is perceived as unfair. Firms should offer full refund as guarantee payout, but refrain from offering a discount. Flexibility should be embedded in guarantee invocation procedures. Originality/value This study demonstrates that service guarantees employed as recovery strategies signal justice and the firm’s motives.

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“…This speaks against a large body of research showing that apologies are an effective way of repairing trust (Bisel & Messersmith, 2012;Ferrin et al, 2007;Koehn, 2013;Ohbuchi et al, 1989;Patel & Reinsch, 2003;Risen & Gilovich, 2007;Roschk & Kaiser, 2013). However, such research did not study apologies in the context of excuses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Indeed, the scripted use of apologies in public transport communication possibly causes them to be perceived as less spontaneous and sincere. Given that these are important factors in determining the effectiveness of apologies (Koehn, 2013;Roschk & Kaiser, 2013;Tomlinson et al, 2004), it is possible that scripted apologies do not possess the necessary elements to produce an effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%