Services Marketing: Concepts, Cases and Strategies
Hoffman, Bateson, Wood & Kenyon
ISBN: 9781844808137
SHORT-ANSWER ESSAYS
Chapter 16: Service Failures and Recovery Strategies
1. Discuss the reasons many customers never complain.
ANS:
 Customers typically do not complain for the following reasons; (1) they don't know who
to complain to; (2) they don't think it will do any good; (3) many customers doubt their
own subjective evaluation; (4) many accept part of the blame due to their roles as coproducers; (5) many simply want to avoid a confrontation; and (6) many feel they lack
the expertise to make an accurate judgment.
2. Discuss the reasons customers complain.
ANS:
 Customers that do complain may do so to: (1) correct the problem; (2) provide an
emotional release from frustration; (3) regain some measure of control by spreading
negative w-o-m; (4) solicit sympathy; (5) test for consensus; and (6) create an impression
of being more intelligent and discerning.
3. Discuss the most common forms of complaining outcomes.
ANS:
 The most common forms of outcomes are exit, voice, and/or retaliation or some
combination of all three which can vary from high, medium, to low.
4. What are the basic fundamental steps of establishing a service recovery program?
ANS:
 The firm should: measure the costs associated with losing a customer; actively encourage
complaints, anticipate the needs for recovery; respond quickly to customer complaints;
train employees in service recovery tactics; empower the front-line so that they can act
quickly; and close the loop--inform customers how their complaint made a difference in
how the firm will operate in the future.
5. Discuss the recommended tactics to recover effectively from a service failure.
ANS:
 The customer’s perception of whether the recovery strategy is just includes evaluations of
the recovery process itself; the outcomes connected to the recovery strategy; and the
interpersonal behaviors enacted during the recovery process. Accordingly, perceived
Services Marketing: Concepts, Cases and Strategies
Hoffman, Bateson, Wood & Kenyon
ISBN: 9781844808137
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justice consists of three components: distributive justice procedural justice, and
interactional justice.
Distributive justice focuses on the specific outcome of the firm’s recovery effort. In
other words, what specifically did the offending firm offer the customer to recover from
the service failure, and did this outcome (output) offset the costs (inputs) of the service
failure? Typical distributive outcomes include compensation (e.g., gratis, discounts,
coupons, free upgrades, and free ancillary services); offers to mend or totally
replace/reperform; and apologies.
The second component of perceived justice, procedural justice, examines the process that
is undertaken to arrive at the final outcome. Hence, even though a customer may be
satisfied with the type of recovery strategy offered, recovery evaluation may be poor due
to the process endured to obtain the recovery outcome. For example, research has
indicated that when implementing identical recovery strategies, those that are
implemented “promptly” are much more likely to be associated with higher consumer
effectiveness ratings and retention rates than their “delayed” counterparts.
Interactional justice refers to the manner in which the service recovery process is
implemented and how recovery outcomes are presented. In other words, interactional
justice involves the courtesy and politeness exhibited by personnel, empathy, effort
observed in resolving the situation, and the firm’s willingness to provide an explanation
why the situation occurred.
A limited amount of research exists that specifically examines the influence of perceived
justice on recovery strategy effectiveness. However, the bottom-line is that the three
components of perceived justice must be taken into consideration when formulating
effective service recovery strategies.
6. Discuss the following types of complaints: instrumental, non-instrumental , ostensive, and
reflective
ANS:
 Instrumental complaints: complaints expressed for the purpose of altering an undesirable
state of affairs; Non-instrumental complaints: complaints expressed without expectation
that an undesirable state will be altered; Ostensive complaints: complaints directed at
someone or something outside the realm of the complainer; Reflexive complaints:
complaints directed at some inner aspect of the complainer.