ServiceFriday: Justice for All – The Impact of Perceived Justice After a Service Recovery

Often considered to be one of the greatest television shows ever made, Seinfeld was no stranger to making bold and unconventional moves. A stand-out example of this occurred when the show air the episode, “The Chinese Restaurant”. The single-setting plot revolved around Jerry, Elaine and George waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant with plans to see a movie afterwards. But this is Seinfeld: a world where service failures are hilariously abundant throughout the series (e.g. the rental car dilemma, movie theater mishaps, etc.). In the end, all three characters depart after growing too frustrated about the seemingly never-ending wait time and as soon as they exit the restaurant, the host yells “Seinfeld, 4?”

While those characters may not have gotten their due justice, service industry researchers have started to examine the relationship between perceived justice and perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) as well as their impact on customers’ behavioral responses after service recovery.  In one study, recently published in the Journal of Services Marketing, the researchers collected data from students at a university and a community adult school. They distributed questionnaires that asked respondents to remember a recent service failure and to describe the service recovery encounter. Researchers also tested for the effect of service failure severity as a potential moderating effect.

The results revealed that perceived justice of service recovery positively influenced CSR and also positively influenced recovery satisfaction. Researchers also discovered that recovery satisfaction positively influenced perceived CSR. The findings indicated that the severity of the service failure was indeed a moderating effect of perceived justice on perceived CSR. “The severity of a service failure serves as a quasi-moderator that negatively affects perceived CSR.” the researchers noted.

Managerial implications

In this study, customers’ behavioral responses, such as satisfaction and re-patronage intention, were directly linked to customers’ perceived justice and perceived CSR following a service recovery. The severity of the service failure was discovered to moderate that effect of perceived justice on perceived CSR.

Due to these findings, the researchers suggest that managers tailor service recovery strategies based on the severity of the service failure. They also recommend that managers be aware that perceived CSR is impacted by recovery efforts during service recovery encounters. “This suggests that recovery encounters may serve as a crucial moment of truth that perceptions of CSR are shaped and modified and, as a result, have a critical impact on customer’s re-patronage intentions.”   

To read the full article, go to the Journal of Services Marketing. (A fee may apply.)