An experimental investigation into the timing of service failure communication

Service failures are common in the hospitality industry and are often associated with low guest satisfaction. However, guest satisfaction is possible to be restored when excellent service recovery tactics are deployed in a timely fashion. The temporary unavailability of a service offering is a type of failure recognized by practitioners, customers, and the research community, yet it is typically only used for illustrative purposes in research. Given the ubiquity of this type of failure in the industry, the lack of investigations of its various aspects (e.g., communication of the occurrence to the customer, reasons, ramifications, etc.) seems surprising. Using scenario-based experimental design in a restaurant setting, this research tested the effects of timing (early/ late) of the communication of the temporary unavailability of a menu item on customers' satisfaction with the recovery, while taking into account the perceived severity of the failure as well as the relationship between customer and provider. Findings indicate that restaurant guests informed early that a menu item is unavailable are more satisfied than those who are informed later in their dining experience (after they have been given time to study the menu and make choices). This increased satisfaction is mediated through the customers' perception of interactional, procedural, and distributive justice.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Business, Hospitality and Tourism Management

Department dc:contributor.department

Hospitality and Tourism Management

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Dallinger, Ioana

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• McGehee, Nancy G.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Kim, Eojina
• Perdue, Richard R.
• Driscoll, Anne R.

• service failure
• service recovery
• timing
• satisfaction
• perceived justice

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:31535

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/104147