Service Recovery

Paper Summary:

This paper attempts to provide some clarity on the major issues surrounding service failure recovery. These include some of the factors relating to the customer that determine success, some of the factors relating to the company that determine success, and some of the factors relating to the industry as a whole that determine success. By considering these three major areas, the paper contends that it is clear that there is no one sure path to service failure recovery. It concludes by outlining some of the key things that management should keep in mind when designing their service failure recovery programs in light of the lack of any one universally successful method.

From the Paper:

"That service recovery engenders greater loyalty in customers who have experienced a successful recovery than those who have not experienced a service failure is known as the service recovery paradox. There are conflicting studies regarding the veracity of the paradox, but it seems reasonable. In many cases, service merely meets customer expectations. That may be sufficient to garner repeat business but it does not register in the customer's mind to the degree that a service recovery incident does. That is an exceptional incident, and therefore more likely to be remembered. Given Ok, et al.'s findings (2007) that a service recovery incident increases loyalty and that the effect lasts two transactions beyond the recovery incident, we can see this. If the increase in loyalty as a result of a successful service recovery incident only lasts for two transactions, then for how many transactions, realistically, does an everyday service success linger in the mind of the customer? "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Robbins, Tina L. & Miller, Janis L. "Considering customer loyalty in developing service recovery strategies" Journal of Business Strategies, 2004, vol. 21, no. 2, pp95-110
• Valenzuela, Freddy; Pearson, David & Epworth, Roger. "Influence of Switching Barriers on Service Recovery Evaluation". Journal of Services Research, 2005, Special Issue, December 2005, pp.240-257
• Ringsberg, Torsten; Odekerken-Schroder, Gaby & Christensen, Glen L. "A cultural models approach to service recovery" Journal of Marketing, 2007, Vol. 71, July 2007, pp. 194-214
• Boschoff, C. "Understanding service recovery satisfaction from a service encounter perspective: a pilot study" South African Journal of Business Management, 2007, Vol. 38, No.2, pp41-51
• Ok, Chihyung, Back, Ki-Joon & Shanklin, Carol W. "Mixed findings on the service recovery paradox" Services Industry Journal, 2007, Vol. 27, No. 6, pp.671-686

More papers on Service Recovery:

• Research Paper # 114365 : "Service Recovery and its Importance"
• Case Study # 112587 : "Services Organization Recovery: Hair Salon"
• Article Review # 139103 : "Service Recovery: A Summation of Four Articles"

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