The Effect of Perceived Justice and Attributions Regarding Service Failure and Recovery on Post-Recovery Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Attitudes

Abstract

This research examines the impact of attributions regarding service failure and recovery on the relationship between satisfaction and service quality by studying a service failure in the hospitality industry resulting from overbooking. In addition, the impact of perceived justice on satisfaction and service quality is analyzed. Finally, the ability of superior recovery to completely mitigate the dissatisfaction resulting from low-harm service failure is addressed. In doing so, the relationship between satisfaction and service quality is clarified. Research hypotheses are critically evaluated through the use of a scenario-based experiment. Implications concern the ability of recovery to mitigate the harm caused by failure. Specifically, for managers in the hospitality industry, the study demonstrates a need to balance overbooking as a yield management tool against the need for organizations to assure service quality through reliability in their service products.