Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2361-2383 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Psychology and Marketing |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| Early online date | 18 Nov 2022 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2022 |
Abstract
Service firms can manage failure apology emails depending on how much digital presence or lack thereof they wish to maintain toward aggrieved customers. While nascent research indicates positive effects of higher levels of digital presence, the efficacy of this strategy in service recovery settings remains unclear. Drawing on the concept of digital presence and the unified theory of social relations, the authors investigate the potential detrimental effects of combining certain salutation forms with digital presence in the form of employee photographs in these emails. The data were gathered using one survey among service employees (Prestudy, N = 202), and two scenario-based experiments (Study 1, N = 418; Study 2, N = 449). Study 1 assesses customer reactions to different apology emails and shows that personalized salutations (i.e., addressing customers by first name) and digital presence in the form of employee photographs can negatively interact to affect recovery satisfaction and repatronage intentions, with customers' perceived rapport mediating these relationships. Moreover, the results of a second experiment (Study 2) show that compensation after a service failure can mitigate the negative interactive effects. This study thus suggests using digital presence (in the form of employee photographs) in conversations with aggrieved customers only when customer salutation personalization is absent.
Keywords
- apology emails, Digital presence, employee photographs, service failure, service recovery
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
- Applied Psychology
- Business, Management and Accounting(all)
- Marketing
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In: Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 39, No. 12, 12.2022, p. 2361-2383.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Digital presence in service recovery
T2 - The interactive effect of customer salutations and employee photographs in email signatures
AU - Walsh, Gianfranco
AU - Shiu, Edward
AU - Schaarschmidt, Mario
AU - Hassan, Louise M.
N1 - Funding information: We thank Sharon Beatty for her valuable comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Service firms can manage failure apology emails depending on how much digital presence or lack thereof they wish to maintain toward aggrieved customers. While nascent research indicates positive effects of higher levels of digital presence, the efficacy of this strategy in service recovery settings remains unclear. Drawing on the concept of digital presence and the unified theory of social relations, the authors investigate the potential detrimental effects of combining certain salutation forms with digital presence in the form of employee photographs in these emails. The data were gathered using one survey among service employees (Prestudy, N = 202), and two scenario-based experiments (Study 1, N = 418; Study 2, N = 449). Study 1 assesses customer reactions to different apology emails and shows that personalized salutations (i.e., addressing customers by first name) and digital presence in the form of employee photographs can negatively interact to affect recovery satisfaction and repatronage intentions, with customers' perceived rapport mediating these relationships. Moreover, the results of a second experiment (Study 2) show that compensation after a service failure can mitigate the negative interactive effects. This study thus suggests using digital presence (in the form of employee photographs) in conversations with aggrieved customers only when customer salutation personalization is absent.
AB - Service firms can manage failure apology emails depending on how much digital presence or lack thereof they wish to maintain toward aggrieved customers. While nascent research indicates positive effects of higher levels of digital presence, the efficacy of this strategy in service recovery settings remains unclear. Drawing on the concept of digital presence and the unified theory of social relations, the authors investigate the potential detrimental effects of combining certain salutation forms with digital presence in the form of employee photographs in these emails. The data were gathered using one survey among service employees (Prestudy, N = 202), and two scenario-based experiments (Study 1, N = 418; Study 2, N = 449). Study 1 assesses customer reactions to different apology emails and shows that personalized salutations (i.e., addressing customers by first name) and digital presence in the form of employee photographs can negatively interact to affect recovery satisfaction and repatronage intentions, with customers' perceived rapport mediating these relationships. Moreover, the results of a second experiment (Study 2) show that compensation after a service failure can mitigate the negative interactive effects. This study thus suggests using digital presence (in the form of employee photographs) in conversations with aggrieved customers only when customer salutation personalization is absent.
KW - apology emails
KW - Digital presence
KW - employee photographs
KW - service failure
KW - service recovery
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137427467&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/mar.21724
DO - 10.1002/mar.21724
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85137427467
VL - 39
SP - 2361
EP - 2383
JO - Psychology and Marketing
JF - Psychology and Marketing
SN - 0742-6046
IS - 12
ER -