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When customers like preferential recovery (and when not)?

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  • Lu, Zhi
  • Mattila, Anna
  • Liu, Stephanie Q.

Abstract

Tourism managers have a long-held belief that preferential recovery helps mitigate customers' negative reactions following a service failure. This research investigates the joint effects of recovery type (preferential vs. non-preferential) and status (high vs. low) on customer responses. Five experiments provide converging evidence to demonstrate that low status customers are more satisfied with non-preferential (vs. preferential) recovery and show higher patronage intention, whereas their high-status counterparts tend to be indifferent. Moreover, such joint effects are moderated by interpersonal similarity and failure similarity. The mediation analyses reveal that fairness perceptions are the psychological mechanism underlying these effects. Together, these findings provide important implications for tourism firms' service recovery practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu, Zhi & Mattila, Anna & Liu, Stephanie Q., 2021. "When customers like preferential recovery (and when not)?," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:87:y:2021:i:c:s0160738320302796
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2020.103135
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Xavier Drèze & Joseph C. Nunes, 2009. "Feeling Superior: The Impact of Loyalty Program Structure on Consumers' Perceptions of Status," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(6), pages 890-905, April.
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    7. Chen, Ya-Ru & Brockner, Joel & Greenberg, Jerald, 2003. "When is it "a pleasure to do business with you?" The effects of relative status, outcome favorability, and procedural fairness," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 92(1-2), pages 1-21.
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    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Xing'an & Liu, Juan, 2024. "Promotional games in service recovery: Luck works," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    2. Liu, Biqiang & Li, Yaoqi, 2022. "Teddy-bear effect in service recovery," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).

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