Abstract
After investing in service quality improvement programs, firms may realize that they still face a daunting challenge: How should they persuade consumers that service has actually improved? One way of attempting to persuade consumers is to offer a service guarantee. But are guarantees credible? Are they really effective? Can they overcome consumers’ prior negative experience? Surprisingly, the topic has received very little attention. This paper provides a conceptual and an empirical examination of the persuasive power of service guarantees. Specifically, the effects of service process evidence, compensation and prior beliefs about the service provider, are examined. The experimental data indicate that the inclusion of service process evidence significantly increases consumers’ willingness to try the provider. The findings also suggest that compensation is more persuasive when service process evidence is specified in the guarantee. The synergy of presenting service process evidence and high compensation, is able to overcome consumers’ prior (negative) exposure. Overall, the study supports the conclusion that consumers are primarily interested in service reliability and only secondarily in compensation for service failures. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 147-159 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Services Marketing |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 1 2001 |
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Keywords
- Consumer behaviour
- Guarantees
- Service quality
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Marketing
Cite this
Increasing the persuasiveness of a service guarantee : The role of service process evidence. / Marmorstein, Howard; Sarel, Dan; Lassar, Walfried M.
In: Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 15, No. 2, 01.04.2001, p. 147-159.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Increasing the persuasiveness of a service guarantee
T2 - The role of service process evidence
AU - Marmorstein, Howard
AU - Sarel, Dan
AU - Lassar, Walfried M.
PY - 2001/4/1
Y1 - 2001/4/1
N2 - After investing in service quality improvement programs, firms may realize that they still face a daunting challenge: How should they persuade consumers that service has actually improved? One way of attempting to persuade consumers is to offer a service guarantee. But are guarantees credible? Are they really effective? Can they overcome consumers’ prior negative experience? Surprisingly, the topic has received very little attention. This paper provides a conceptual and an empirical examination of the persuasive power of service guarantees. Specifically, the effects of service process evidence, compensation and prior beliefs about the service provider, are examined. The experimental data indicate that the inclusion of service process evidence significantly increases consumers’ willingness to try the provider. The findings also suggest that compensation is more persuasive when service process evidence is specified in the guarantee. The synergy of presenting service process evidence and high compensation, is able to overcome consumers’ prior (negative) exposure. Overall, the study supports the conclusion that consumers are primarily interested in service reliability and only secondarily in compensation for service failures. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
AB - After investing in service quality improvement programs, firms may realize that they still face a daunting challenge: How should they persuade consumers that service has actually improved? One way of attempting to persuade consumers is to offer a service guarantee. But are guarantees credible? Are they really effective? Can they overcome consumers’ prior negative experience? Surprisingly, the topic has received very little attention. This paper provides a conceptual and an empirical examination of the persuasive power of service guarantees. Specifically, the effects of service process evidence, compensation and prior beliefs about the service provider, are examined. The experimental data indicate that the inclusion of service process evidence significantly increases consumers’ willingness to try the provider. The findings also suggest that compensation is more persuasive when service process evidence is specified in the guarantee. The synergy of presenting service process evidence and high compensation, is able to overcome consumers’ prior (negative) exposure. Overall, the study supports the conclusion that consumers are primarily interested in service reliability and only secondarily in compensation for service failures. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
KW - Consumer behaviour
KW - Guarantees
KW - Service quality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84986076196&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84986076196&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/08876040110387935
DO - 10.1108/08876040110387935
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84986076196
VL - 15
SP - 147
EP - 159
JO - Journal of Services Marketing
JF - Journal of Services Marketing
SN - 0887-6045
IS - 2
ER -