TY  - JOUR
AB  - When designing a guarantee, service firms have a choice ‐the unconditional that guarantees customer satisfaction or the specific, which guarantees a major aspect of the service such as on‐time delivery. To date, this decision has been based primarily on anecdotal observations. This investigation examined consumer reactions to unconditional versus specific service guarantees in terms of risk reduction, preference, and trust in the service provider. In an experimental setting, respondents preferred firms which offered an unconditional guarantee. However, specific guarantees were favoured when subjects considered the ease of getting their money back. For a service firm, the implementation of an unconditional guarantee with a specific payout would have the broadest appeal in the market.
VL  - 12
IS  - 4
SN  - 0887-6045
DO  - 10.1108/08876049810226955
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/08876049810226955
AU  - McDougall Gordon H.G.
AU  - Levesque Terrence
AU  - VanderPlaat Peter
PY  - 1998
Y1  - 1998/01/01
TI  - Designing the service guarantee: unconditional or specific?
T2  - Journal of Services Marketing
PB  - MCB UP Ltd
SP  - 278
EP  - 293
Y2  - 2024/04/18
ER  -