Lisa C. Wan

Consumer Responses to Service Failures: A Resource Preference Model of Cultural Influences

This article highlights consumers’ preference for economic (versus social) resources in individualist (versus collectivist) cultures and demonstrates the multifaceted effects of culture on consumer responses to service failures. A cross-cultural study involving American and Chinese participants in the setting of a computer repair service confirms seven of eight hypotheses derived from the resource preference model. The results indicate that Americans (versus Chinese) are more dissatisfied with an outcome failure but less dissatisfied with a process failure. This interactive effect of culture and failure type seems to be driven by a corresponding pattern of attribution tendencies across cultures. Not only do Americans and Chinese differ in service dissatisfaction, but they also tend to express their dissatisfaction in different ways, preferring voice and private responses, respectively. Overall, the resource preference model enhances theoretical understanding of cross-cultural consumer behavior and provides culture-specific guidelines for managing the inevitable service failures.

The Contrasting Effects of Culture on Consumer Tolerance: Interpersonal Face and Impersonal Fate

This research highlights two cultural tendencies--concern for face and belief in fate--that are characteristic of Asian (vs. Western) consumers. In three cross-cultural studies on service failures, we show that these cultural tendencies have contrasting effects on consumer tolerance, such that Asian (vs. Western) consumers are more dissatisfied with social failures but less dissatisfied with nonsocial failures. We further demonstrate that these contrasting effects of culture are sensitive to pertinent contextual factors such as the presence of other consumers or a fate-suggestive brand name. Overall, our research evinces the multidimensionality of cultural influence and points to the need for a sharper focus in conceptualizing cross-cultural consumer behavior.

The Role of Relationship Norms in Responses to Service Failures

A friendly relationship with a service provider can sometimes decrease the negative feelings that consumers experience as the result of a service failure. However, friendship is not always beneficial. When consumers focus their attention on the providers obligation to respond to their needs, they react more negatively to a service failure when they are friends of the provider than when they have only a business relationship with him or her. When their attention is drawn to their own obligation in the relationship, however, the reverse is true. This difference is confirmed in four experiments in which the perspective from which participants imagined a service failure was activated either by unrelated experiences before being exposed to the failure or by features of the service encounter itself.

Prior Relationships and Consumer Responses to Service Failures: A Cross-Cultural Study

The authors examine the mitigating effect of an established trusting relationship between service providers and consumers on the consequences of service failures as a function of interdependent–independent self-construal. Two studies reveal that the effect of prior relationship, defined as the length of past patronage of a service provider, on consumer behavioral responses to service failure tends to be more pronounced among consumers with interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal. This variation in the mitigating effect of prior relationship can be attributed to the differential impact of trust in the service provider on the two groups of consumers. The authors conclude with a discussion of managerial implications.

Dual Influences of Moderating Variables in the Dissatisfaction Process: Theory and Evidence

ABSTRACT This article highlights the dual influences of two moderating variables—concern for face (CFF) and belief in fate (BIF)—at two junctures of the dissatisfaction process: (1) formation of dissatisfaction and (2) response to dissatisfaction. The results of an empirical study support the dual-influence hypotheses. Specifically, consumers higher in CFF (BIF) are more (less) dissatisfied with service failures, and the effect is stronger for process (outcome) failures. For a given level of dissatisfaction, moreover, consumers higher in CFF have a lower intention to complain to the firm but a higher intention to complain to family and friends, whereas consumers higher in BIF have a lower intention to engage in both types of complaining behavior. These results are rich in theoretical and managerial implications.

Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility brands: the role of face concern

Purpose – Face concern is a personal value that refers to the extent an individual shows regard for or interest in the protection and enhancement of face. This study aims to examine the moderating influence of face concern on consumer responses to brands associated with corporate social responsibility (CSR). Design/methodology/approach – An experimental study was conducted to test the proposed conceptual model in consumer reactions to CSR brands. Findings – The results show that consumers with a high face concern (vs low face concern) have a better quality perception toward CSR brands than non-CSR brands. In addition, they also have a higher purchase intention and propensity to recommend the CSR brands than those with a low face concern. However, this interaction effect between face concern and brand type (CSR brand vs non-CSR brand) is mediated by consumers’ perceived quality of the brand. Practical implications – This study provides critical implications for the formulation of brand management strategie...

The Effects of Image Congruence and Self-Monitoring on Product Evaluations: A Comparison Between Genuine and Counterfeit Products

ABSTRACT The authors examined the effects of image congruence and self-monitoring on product evaluations of counterfeit products. Study results show that image congruence is positively related to both product attitude and purchase intentions. Specifically, they found that ideal self-image congruence is more relevant to genuine products, while actual self-image congruence is more relevant to counterfeit products. The study provides further evidence that high self-monitored consumers would have better product evaluations on a genuine product compared to the low self-monitored consumers. In contrast, low self-monitored consumers would have higher product evaluations on counterfeits compared to high self-monitored consumers. The evaluation of image congruence–product relationship is also found to be positively moderated through self-monitoring in the context of genuine products. The major theoretical contribution of this study is an extension of the image congruence hypothesis to the context of counterfeit products and the acknowledgment of the role of self-monitoring in consumer behavior. The implications of the study for marketing practice suggest grounds for refining understanding of how consumers purchase and use counterfeits.

How can psychological contagion effect be attenuated? The role of boundary effect on menu design.

Psychological effects can be greatly influential for the foodservice industry, especially in menu design. Presenting dish pictures is a common practice on menus, but because of the psychological contagion effect, this practice could decrease consumers’ evaluations of dishes, sometimes without the awareness of consumers, let alone restaurant managers. This research aims to explore the potential threats of a psychological contagion by considering how dishes that make consumers feel uncomfortable can affect their evaluations of dishes located nearby. It further examines how a psychological contagion can be attenuated when a visual boundary is placed between a discomfiting dish and a target dish. The results demonstrate the occurrence of psychological contagion in menu design. The interaction between psychological contagions and visual boundaries suggest that the psychological contagion can be attenuated through visual boundaries.

Cross-Cultural Research on Consumer Responses to Service Failure: A Critical Review

The service industry contributes significantly to global economic development and there has been a strong research effort to understand consumers’ perceptions of service quality and satisfaction. Although service performance is pivotal to consumer satisfaction in the service-delivery process, it is characterized by heterogeneity (Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry, 1990). Given this inherent variability, researchers have recognized that service failures are almost inevitable. Therefore understanding how consumers react to service failures, including what factors mitigate their dissatisfaction, has important theoretical and managerial implications for the service industry. Not surprisingly, issues of service failure and recovery have received considerable research attention in the service marketing field (e.g., Choi and Mattila, 2008; Hess, Ganesan and Klein, 2003; Kalamas, Laroche and Makdessian, 2008; Mattila, 2001; Mittal, Huppertz and Khare, 2008; Smith and Bolton, 2003; Smith, Bolton and Wagner, 1999; Witz and Mattila, 2004).

Self-Discrepancy and Consumer Responses to Counterfeit Products

Counterfeiting is the production and sale of a fake product that is seemingly identical to an original brand-name product. International trade in counterfeit goods has shown a steady increase in the new millennium, totaling an estimated €475 billion a year, or nearly 8% of world trade (International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition, 2008). This increase in the buying and selling of counterfeit products continues to gain ground despite global efforts by governments, enforcement agents and intellectual property rights—holders to stop counterfeiting and piracy. The anti-counterfeiting forces seem to be fighting a losing a battle, as consumers often knowingly purchase counterfeits (Nia and Zaichkowsky, 2000). Therefore a clear and actionable understanding of the motivations underlying consumers’ purchase of counterfeits is necessary to influence counterfeit consumption behavior (Wilcox, Kim and Sen, 2009).