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Research on satisfaction recovery from service failure due to attitude defect and unfair price: A dynamic and longitudinal evaluation model based on customer win-back management

Frontiers of Business Research in China volume 4, pages 380–408 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Customer win-back is a cognitive process of satisfaction changing from a low level to a high level with service recovery strategies as the stimulus. Because prior research tends to view service recovery strategies as a static antecedent, it is difficult to analyze and observe how the recovery strategies affect satisfaction and repurchase intention dynamically. Moreover, not enough attention has been directed to the relationship between reasons of customer loss and recovery strategies. This research conducted a field experiment involving a 2 × 2 between-subjects design (defects of service attitude and unfair price × tangible recovery and intangible recovery strategies). From a longitudinal and dynamic perspective, this study has produced the following key results: First, there are significant differences in satisfaction and purchase intention between the four groups categorized by specific reasons of customer loss. Second, recovery strategies may have non-linear effects on customer’s satisfaction. Lastly, based on the prospect theory and disappointment theory, we discuss important managerial implications of the function curves fitted between customer satisfactory (before customer loss and after implementation of customer winback strategy) and purchase intention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business Administration, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, 610074, China

    Xiaofei Tang

  2. School of Economics and Management, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China

    Jianmin Jia

  3. School of Business Administration, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Jianmin Jia

  4. School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China

    Tingrui Zhou

  5. College of Economics and Management, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Hongjuan Yin

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  1. Xiaofei Tang
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  2. Jianmin Jia
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  3. Tingrui Zhou
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  4. Hongjuan Yin
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Correspondence to Xiaofei Tang.

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Translated from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2009, (5): 107–118

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Tang, X., Jia, J., Zhou, T. et al. Research on satisfaction recovery from service failure due to attitude defect and unfair price: A dynamic and longitudinal evaluation model based on customer win-back management. Front. Bus. Res. China 4, 380–408 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11782-010-0103-2

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