Amy K. Smith

A model of customer satisfaction with service encounters involving failure and recovery

Customers often react strongly to service failures, so it is critical that an organizations recovery efforts be equally strong and effective. In this article, the authors develop a model of custom...

Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty in Online and Offline Environments

Abstract We address the following questions that are becoming increasingly important to managers in service industries: Are the levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty for the same service different when customers choose the service online versus offline? If yes, what factors might explain these differences? How is the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty in the online environment different from that in the offline environment? We propose a conceptual framework and develop hypotheses about the effects of the online medium on customer satisfaction and loyalty and on the relationships between satisfaction and loyalty. We test the hypotheses through a simultaneous equation model using two data sets of online and offline customers of the lodging industry. The results are somewhat counterintuitive in that they show that whereas the levels of customer satisfaction for a service chosen online is the same as when it is chosen offline, loyalty to the service provider is higher when the service is chosen online than offline. We also find that loyalty and satisfaction have a reciprocal relationship such that each positively reinforces the other, and this relationship between overall satisfaction and loyalty is further strengthened online.

Crime and Punishment Examining Customers’ Responses to Service Organizations’ Penalties

Service organizations often use various types of penalties without fully understanding the effects on customers’ evaluations. Because customers’ responses to penalties are usually negative, it is important for service organizations to properly administer and manage penalties. However, little is currently known about how customers view such “punishments.” This study develops an integrated framework to explain customers’ responses to penalties based on concepts from attribution theory, social justice theory, and expectancy disconfirmation. The study examines the effects of penalty attributes (severity, flexibility, adequacy of an explanation), attributions (i.e., causal inference), perceived justice, disconfirmation, and emotion on customers’ evaluations of penalties imposed by service organizations. This research uses a cross-sectional survey design and collects data online using the critical incident technique. The results show that penalty attributes, attributions, perceived justice, and negative emotion have significant effects on customers’ responses to penalties. The study provides useful guidelines to help service organizations manage penalties.

Customer rage: Triggers, tipping points, and take-outs

The article presents the results of a study of customer rage, which involved 50 interviews with enraged customers from the U.S., Australia, Thailand and China. It focuses on the psychological processes underlying incidents of customer rage. These are defined as cases where customers become so infuriated at a perceived lack of customer service that they may verbally or physically attack employees, or damage corporate property. It was found that such incidents typically were the result of escalating anger, rather than an immediate reaction. They usually were preceded by a series of interactions with the firm which were perceived as insulting or threatening by the customer.

Chapter 10 Customer Emotions in Service Failure and Recovery Encounters

Emotions play a significant role in the workplace, and considerable attention has been given to the study of employee emotions. Customers also play a central function in organizations, but much less is known about customer emotions. This chapter reviews the growing literature on customer emotions in employee–customer interfaces with a focus on service failure and recovery encounters, where emotions are heightened. It highlights emerging themes and key findings, addresses the measurement, modeling, and management of customer emotions, and identifies future research streams. Attention is given to emotional contagion, relationships between affective and cognitive processes, customer anger, customer rage, and individual differences.