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Discrimination in the marketplace has recently received increasing attention in marketing discussions, especially related to service encounters. This research explores the effect of receiving lower (vs higher) financial compensation than someone perceived to be from an upper social class (vs lower) on consumer reactions after a service recovery situation.

Two experimental studies with two different populations.

Individuals who receive less compensation than someone from a higher socioeconomic status tend to attribute differential treatment to discrimination. Both individuals who received less and who received higher compensation are willing to engage in negative word of mouth, however, only consumers who were discriminated against want to take revenge on the company.

Previous literature indicates that consumers' reactions after service problems are mediated by justice perceptions. This research offers a new perspective of social comparison in service recovery situations by considering the role of discrimination perceptions.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and others (LGBTQI+) movement has been the focus of companies that seek to win over consumers by supporting diversity. Any positioning, however, that is not perceived as being consistent and genuine can harm the brand's image. Through a queer theoretical perspective, the authors explore perceptions of LGBTQI+ consumers regarding brand activism.

Qualitative research was carried out that involved interviewing Brazilian consumers who are part of the LGBTQI+ community.

Aspects of the identity of these individuals draw closer to those brands that share the same values the individuals have. Brand activism is perceived positively in terms of the brand's representativeness and social impact. When activism is perceived as inauthentic, activism generates a backlash and consumers begin to boycott brands as the consumers associate positioning with woke-washing practices.

The results indicate that to adopt an activist stance with regard to the LGBTQI+ public, brands need to be consistent in the brands' communication and advertising and in brands' organizational culture and diversity. This research provides important indicators for brands that genuinely want to support the LGBTQI+ community and is the first to use queer theory to analyze brand activism.

E-commerce has experienced huge growth in emerging countries, but analysis of service failure/recovery for online retailers has been limited in this context. Hence, this study aims to investigate customers’ reactions to service failures in e-commerce and the influence of cultural dimensions on complaint intentions.

A survey was conducted with 553 customers from Brazil, India and China. A model was proposed and tested using structural equation modeling.

Results indicate that satisfaction with service recovery (SSR) increases repurchase intentions and reduces third-party complaints and negative word-of-mouth. This study also shows that the reactions of consumers to service failures in online situations are influenced by their cultural orientation (i.e. individualism, uncertainty avoidance and power distance) and contingent factors (i.e. relationship level, switching costs and the severity of the failure).

This study shows that the extent to which consumers from emerging countries complain after a service failure in online purchases will depend on their cultural orientation, previous experiences with the retailer, switching costs and the severity of the failure.