Exploring consumer experience of social power during service consumption

Abstract

Purpose This research seeks to investigate consumer experiences of social power during service consumption. Specifically, this research examines the causes and consequences (cognition, expectations, emotions, and emotion expression) of consumer experiences of high and low power; and, given the key role of emotions in the experience and outcome of services, examines how emotions and emotion expression impacted satisfaction for high and low power consumers. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 195 adult consumers of a range of services responded to a self‐administered survey with a mix of qualitative and quantitative measures. Findings The data show that most experiences of power occurred in high contact services, underlining the social nature of consumer power. While high power experiences occurred due to consumer knowledge, service failure accounted for low power experiences. High power consumers have greater self‐oriented action thoughts while low power consumers have greater ruminative thoughts. There was no statistical difference in the provider‐oriented cognition for high and low power consumers. High power consumers expect providers to focus on the core service while low power consumers have expectations regarding the interpersonal component of service delivery. High power consumers feel more positive emotions, less negative emotions and greater satisfaction than low power consumers, but there was no difference in the expressivity of emotions. Emotion expression mediated the relationship between emotions and satisfaction for high power consumers but not for low power consumers. Originality/value This is assumed to be the first investigation of consumer experiences of power, an important construct in understanding of consumer‐service provider interactions during service consumption.