Let them all eat cake: Providing VIP services without the cost of exclusion for non-VIP customers

Using quasi-field and lab experiments, this research examines the underlying social comparison process involved when consumers evaluate their satisfaction with both VIP group membership and non-VIP group membership during VIP service experiences. Results show that perceptions of face mediate the relationship between group membership and satisfaction. VIPs report higher satisfaction due to feelings of enhanced face, and non-VIPs report lower satisfaction due to feelings of decreased face. For VIPs, service experiences are heightened by situations that allow visible downward social comparison. Further, VIPs' level of previous experience with VIP group membership moderates this effect. Finally, non-VIPs, which comprise the majority, are more satisfied when upward social comparison is not possible. This research is the first to offer service managers insight into the strategic design of offerings that maximize both VIP and non-VIP groups' satisfaction during status-oriented consumption experiences.