An Experimental Investigation of Justice-Based Service Recovery on Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Word-of-Mouth Intentions

Service recovery is related to many important organizational outcomes such as customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability. Within the theoretical framework of organizational justice, an experiment using a simulated “live” service failure was used to assess the effects of justice-based service-recovery strategies on customer satisfaction, loyalty, positive word-of-mouth intentions, and negative word-of-mouth intentions. Analysis indicated that strategies including interactional justice, distributive justice, and a combination of these were equally effective in maintaining customer satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word of mouth, and minimizing negative word of mouth after a service failure. No support for the service recovery paradox, that is, increased satisfaction following service failure and recovery compared to never having a problem, was found. Satisfaction and loyalty for those in the failure conditions were equal to, although not higher than, in the no-failure control condition. Practical implications for organizational practices are discussed.