RT Journal Article
SR 00
ID 10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104709
A1 Meyer-Waarden, Lars
A1 Sabadie, William
T1 Relationship quality matters: How restaurant businesses can optimize complaint management
JF Tourism Management
YR 2023
FD 2023-06
VO vol. 96
K1 Complaint management
K1 Theory of justice
K1 Relationship quality
K1 Conjoint analysis
K1 Scenario experiments
AB This research investigates the effectiveness of complaint management according to company–client relationship quality (RQ). Interactional recovery efforts are critical for efficient complaint management in the hospitality management (restaurant) context; this study addresses the potential compensatory interaction effects of interactional recovery efforts (personal apology vs. impersonal apology via email) and two types of compensatory recovery efforts (voucher vs. refund), as well as their intensity (full vs. partial). A robust cut-off effect emerges, such that a minimum level of interactional effort influences the effectiveness of compensation efforts. Furthermore, RQ influences complaint management effectiveness: For loyal, high-RQ customers, interactional recovery effort (personal apologies) is more important, regardless of compensation intensity (full vs. partial) or type (voucher vs. refund). High- (low) RQ customers are more (less) likely to accept vouchers than refunds; vouchers symbolize their willingness to continue relationships. Thus, interactional effort allows firms to decrease the intensity of customer compensation required.
PB Elsevier
SN 1879-3193
LK https://publications.ut-capitole.fr/id/eprint/48328/