Consumer responses to compensation, speed of recovery and apology after a service failure
Wirtz and Mattila ran an experiment on how three dimensions of fairness, distributive, procedural and interactional, shape consumers' attributions, post-recovery satisfaction and behavioural responses such as repatronage intent and negative word of mouth, in a service failure that carries no monetary cost to the consumer. Recovery outcomes such as compensation, procedures such as speed and interactional treatment such as an apology have a joint effect on satisfaction. Compensation may not raise satisfaction when the recovery process is well executed, with an immediate response and an apology.
Wirtz and Mattila ran an experiment on how three dimensions of fairness, distributive, procedural and interactional, shape consumers' attributions, post-recovery satisfaction and behavioural responses such as repatronage intent and negative word of mouth, in a service failure that carries no monetary cost to the consumer. Recovery outcomes such as compensation, procedures such as speed and interactional treatment such as an apology have a joint effect on satisfaction. Compensation may not raise satisfaction when the recovery process is well executed, with an immediate response and an apology.
Written from the abstract as shown on the OpenAlex record, read 2026-11-04.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Wirtz, J., & Mattila, A. S. (2004). Consumer responses to compensation, speed of recovery and apology after a service failure. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 15(2), 150-166. doi:10.1108/09564230410532484