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This experimental study examined how the three dimensions of fairness (distributive, procedural and interactional) influence consumers' attributional processes, their post‐recovery satisfaction and behavioral responses (repatronage intent and negative word‐of‐mouth) in a service failure context that does not involve monetary costs to the consumer. Our results indicate that recovery outcomes (e.g. compensation), procedures (e.g. speed of recovery) and interactional treatment (e.g. apology) have a joint effect on post‐recovery satisfaction. Specifically, our findings suggest that compensation may not enhance satisfaction when the recovery process is well‐executed (an immediate response combined with an apology). Similarly, compensation failed to lessen dissatisfaction with a poor recovery process (a delayed response without apology). It thus seems that compensation is a poor substitute for a good recovery process. However, offering compensation was effective in increasing satisfaction in mixed‐bag recovery situations (delayed recovery with an apology, or immediate recovery without apology). Furthermore, we found that service recovery satisfaction acted as a full mediator between service recovery attributes (compensation, recovery speed and apology) and behavioral intentions (repurchase intent and negative WOM). Finally, our findings suggest that consumer attributions for stability and controllability for the failure vary across recovery efforts. Managerial implications for these findings are discussed.

This paper aims to identify antecedents and consequences of pharmacy loyalty behavior.

A cross-sectional study was conducted. Constructs involved were measured using an online self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic and linear regression.

In all, 400 usable responses were obtained. General satisfaction (odds ratio [OR] = 1.52; p < 0.01; 95 per cent confidence interval [CI] = 1.12 to 2.06) and trust (OR = 1.81; p < 0.01; 95 per cent CI = 1.32 to 2.50) were found to have statistically significant relationships with loyalty behavior. General satisfaction (regression coefficient = 0.20; p < 0.01; 95 per cent CI = 0.09 to 0.31), explanation component of satisfaction with service quality (regression coefficient = 0.13; p < 0.01; 95 per cent CI = 0.04 to 0.21), consideration and technical competence components of satisfaction with service quality (regression coefficient = 0.18; p = 0.02; 95 per cent CI = 0.03 to 0.33) and trust (regression coefficient = 0.33; p < 0.01; 95 per cent CI = 0.21 to 0.45) were statistically significantly related to positive word-of-mouth promotion. General satisfaction (regression coefficient = −0.29; p < 0.01; 95 per cent CI = −0.3 to −0.18), consideration and technical competence components of satisfaction with service quality (regression coefficient = −0.17; p = 0.02; 95 per cent CI = −0.31 to −0.03) and trust (regression coefficient = −0.21; p < 0.01; 95 per cent CI = −0.33 to −0.10) had statistically significant relationships with negative word-of-mouth promotion.

Pharmacists can utilize these results to develop better marketing strategies. These results can be used by researchers to forward this area of research. This study had some study design limitations that may affect its generalizability.

Effect of satisfaction as a multidimensional construct on pharmacy loyalty behavior and word-of-mouth promotion, identification of drivers of negative word-of-mouth promotion and effect of pharmacy trust on pharmacy loyalty behavior and word-of-mouth promotion are some of the major contributions of this study.

Word‐of‐mouth is a powerful communication tool which is often beyond the control of the marketer. This study used a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial experiment in a laboratory simulation to examine the main and interaction effects of three independent variables — message, source and user‐type — on credibility and behavior intention. The experiment involved 1,440 respondents from two different demographic sample groupings — secondary school students and undergraduates. ANOVA results for the experiments showed that, generally, source and user‐type were found to be significant factors affecting the credibility of word‐of‐mouth. In terms of source, father was perceived to be more credible than close friend as a word‐of‐mouth source. Likewise, past users were found to be more credible than non‐past users. Message was, however, found to affect significantly the behavioral intention variable. Negative message was found to generate the strongest negative behavioral intention than positive message and two‐sided messages. Two‐sided message was also found to have a stronger effect than positive message in behavioral intention. In addition, t‐tests results also revealed significant differences in perceptions between the two samples.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of dissatisfaction and anger, driven by the failure of the self-service technology of banks, on customers' post-purchase behavioural reactions, such as complaints, negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) and supplier change. The stability of the failure is proposed to moderate these relationships.

The proposed research model was tested through data collected from an online survey of a Tunisian sample of 300 respondents, using the scenario method.

The study validates the positive impact of dissatisfaction on anger and negative word-of-mouth, as well as that of anger on complaint behaviour and negative word-of-mouth. The relation between dissatisfaction and negative word-of-mouth is mediated by anger. When the failure is stable, dissatisfied users of the self-service technology seek to enhance their negative word-of-mouth and supplier change. The results also show that the stability of the failure enhances the effect of anger on complaint behaviour.

Banks should invest efforts to accelerate the recovery of services to reduce consumer dissatisfaction and anger and prevent adverse behavioural outcomes. Further, they need to ensure that failures are not repeated, as failure stability activates some otherwise non-significant behavioural outcomes, like supplier change.

Previous works have focused on the impact of dissatisfaction and negative emotions for interpersonal services, but very few works have come to associate dissatisfaction, anger, complaint, negative word-of-mouth and supplier change in an integrative framework for an self-service technology failure.

Emerged from a theoretical contradiction, the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether perceptions and behaviors toward new brands depend on the priority assigned to promote the company’s intentions (warmth) vs its abilities (competence).

The research uses a two-level single factor experiment to test the effects of launch communication strategy (warmth-competence vs competence-warmth) on people’s perceptions and behavioral intents, and applies partial least squares structural equation modeling to explore the collected data.

Results offer valuable insights into the usage of communication strategy with a view to favor brand perception, referrals, and sales, laying stress on the underlying mechanisms. Research finds that warmth-competence communication strategy has a higher positive influence on brand perception than the reversed strategy. Revealing people’s proneness to promote the new companies perceived as warm and competent, results indicate that perception of warmth mediates word-of-mouth propensity.

The present study brings novel insights for corporate communication, showing that people’s propensity to advocate on behalf of new brands is driven by the perception of company’s warmth. Explaining connections between communication strategy, brand perception, and WOM propensity (supportive or denigrating), the current study adds contributions to the previous findings on warmth and competence stereotypes applied to consumer-brand interactions.

From a managerial perspective, findings offer practical hints about how to use launch communication to improve brand perception and consumer supportive behaviors.

The present study brings novel insights for corporate communication, showing that people’s propensity to advocate on behalf of new brands is driven by the perception of company’s warmth. Explaining connections between communication strategy, brand perception, and word-of-mouth propensity, the current study adds contributions to the previous findings on warmth and competence stereotypes applied to consumer-brand interactions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how shoppers’ expectations regarding the amount of search and disconfirmation of these search expectations affect outcomes of the shopping trip.

A survey of shoppers is used to test the proposed hypotheses.

Survey results indicate that search disconfirmation is conceptually distinct from but related to search effort and search regret. The results show that negative search disconfirmation mediates the relationship between search effort and shopper satisfaction, hedonic and utilitarian shopping value, choice confidence, search regret and negative word-of-mouth intent.

The findings underscore that search effort itself is not negative for shoppers. However, when search effort is perceived as excessive compared to shoppers’ expectations, negative retail outcomes can occur. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

This study aims to propose a model for predicting consumers’ esports videogame engagement on their ensuing consumption behaviors, which remains nebulous to date.

After approaching esports consumers in different gaming zones in Pakistan, this paper collected data from 364 videogame-based esports consumers. This paper deployed SmartPLS 3.2.8 software to perform the partial least squares-structural equation modeling-based analyzes.

The structural model results show that consumers’ affective and behavioral esports videogame engagement positively affects their consumption behavior, including heightened community engagement, purchase intent, coproduction, word-of-mouth and new player recruitment. However, while consumers’ cognitive esports engagement was found to positively impact community engagement, new player recruitment and coproduction, it failed to predict consumers’ esports-related purchase intent or word-of-mouth behaviors.

The findings reveal that a strategic focus on consumers’ esports game engagement will enable practitioners to nurture desirable consumer behaviors, including enhanced purchase intent, coproduction, word-of-mouth and new player recruitment behaviors, thus warranting consumer engagement’s strategic value as a key esports gaming metric.

Empirical research into the role of consumers’ esports videogame engagement on their ensuing consumption behaviors remains scant to date. Based on this gap, this study offers a timely contribution by exploring and validating a model that gauges the effect of consumers’ cognitive, emotional and behavioral esports videogame engagement on their community engagement, purchase intention, coproduction, word-of-mouth and new player recruitment. It, thus, offers important insight into the rapidly advancing field of digital esports games.

The purpose of this paper is to examine behavioral changes by consumers (i.e. changing time of day they contact a firm, requesting a domestic service provider, and ceasing doing business with the firm) when faced with being provided a service from abroad.

Data were collected from a pre‐recruited internet panel of 394 American consumers. Hierarchical regression analysis, including demographic and psychographic variables, was employed to determine which variables were instrumental in predicting behavioral changes among consumers when being provided a service from abroad.

The results suggest that American consumers are wary of services offshoring and that psychographic variables (boycott issue importance and negative word of mouth) are more instrumental than demographic variables in predicting behavioral changes by consumers.

Future research should examine consumer attitudes about services offshoring from populations in countries other than the US, and in relation to different types of services and the importance of those services to consumers.

Implications for firms include assessing their customer's perceptions of offshoring, proactively communicating with customers about offshoring practices, and providing customers with some control over their service interactions.

Previous researchers have highlighted the benefits of services offshoring to firms but also hypothesized that consumers may react negatively when provided services from abroad. In this research, it is found that consumers will change the way they interact with a firm when faced with being provided a service from abroad.

In the present study, we examined how effectively online travel agencies (OTAs) handle negative e-word-of-mouth on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We collected data from 497 participants using survey method. To test the hypotheses formulated from the existing literature, structural equation modeling was adopted in this study. The results from structural equation modeling indicate effective handling of the negative e-word of mouth (e-WOM) on social media websites significantly affects customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. The current research work provides insight into social media recovery efforts and service fairness when handling negative e-WOM. The study recommends that customers can distinguish the differences between general efforts and adaptive complaint-handling efforts, and dissimilarities may influence satisfaction, repurchase intentions, etc. Although empathy, apology, responsiveness, and paraphrasing are considered pioneer strategies in complaint handling, customers' negative e-WOM, and firms' recovery management, but the current study is among a few to categorize OTAs' handling of negative e-WOM and complaint handling efforts in the social media environment.