Summary
This study investigates how the behavior of customers during a service recovery episode influences a retail salesperson's attitude toward the customer (Ac) and likelihood of accepting a product return. Using a 2x2x2 design in which legitimacy (normative, cognitive, and regulative) of the return request by the customer was manipulated, 238 retail salespeople were faced with a decision to accept or reject the return of an item. Results indicate that the perceived legitimacy of the return request is associated with perception of a breach of the psychological contract between the customer and the retail salesperson and subsequent feelings of violation on the part of the salesperson. Such feelings of violation are negatively associated with the salesperson's attitude toward the customer (Ac) and their intention of accepting the return.
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Extract
Attitude Toward the Customer: A Study of Product Returns Episodes
Past research in the retailing and services marketing literatures has focused on the importance of creating and maintaining customer satisfaction (Anderson and Mittal, 2000; Berry and Bendapudi, 2003; Fournier and Mick, 1999; Oliver et al., 1997). One particularly important aspect of the customer satisfaction process that has received significant attention recendy is service recovery, which is defined as the process by which the firm attempts to rectify a service- or product-related failure (Maxham and Netemeyer, 2002). Retailer responses to failures are shown to reinforce customer relationships when handled properly (Blodgett et al. 1997), and/or aggravate the negative effects of the failure when mismanaged (Hoffman et al., 1995; Krapfel, 1988). The behaviors and feelings of the retail salesperson are of critical importance during the service recovery process. The retail salesperson frequently represents the final (or only) point of contact between the retail firm and the customer, and the service recovery efforts he/she enacts can have an enormous impact not only on immediate customer satisfaction, but, importandy, on service quality perceptions and future patronage intentions (Pugh, 2001; Bitner et al., 1994, 1990).
One type of service recovery that has emerged as particularly salient to retailers is the handling of product returns. Returns transactions provide a critical point of contact between the retail firm and the customer, and return volumes can represent anywhere from 6-40% of sales for a given retailer. Return transactions also represent a prime opportunity for the retailer to recuperate assets and customers that might otherwise be lost (Stock, 1999; Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 1999; Dunne et al., 2001).In general, most research addressing product returns has assumed that the customer has a legitimate reason for returning a product, and/or the retailer should accept returns with little or no questions asked. However, anecdotal accounts and articles in the business press refute this perceived legitimacy perspective (Krapfel, 1988; Steinauer, 1997; Tomlinson, 2002; Industrial Relations Review & Report, 1994). Retail salespeople who handle returns will readily share stories about outrageous cust...See the full content of this document
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