University of Twente Student Theses
When loyal customers turn into hateful enemies
Duiveman, A. (2016) When loyal customers turn into hateful enemies.
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Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of service recovery efforts (poor vs. excellent) and situational complaining factors (offline vs. online, private vs public) on brand hate and its related behavior. This study argues that, the way in which a complaining customer will be treated after a service failure will be essential in the creation of brand hate. Subsequently, the situation in which the service recovery effort occurs will also influence the creation of brand hate. Besides, it is argued that the relationship between service recovery efforts and brand hate could be influenced by the moderating factor of forgiveness. This study consists of a 2 x 2 x 2 between subjects experimental design. The manipulations of the factors were implemented in eight scenarios, that were included in an online survey. Regarding the main research question, to what extent have service recovery efforts and situational complaining factors an influence on the creation of brand hate and the expression of its related behaviors?, the results showed two significant main effects. The first main effect was found between poor service recovery efforts and brand hate. Subsequently, the second main effect was between brand hate and several brand hate behaviors. The proposed mediation of forgiveness was not confirmed. Future research could aim towards the construction of reliable scales for both brand hate and the brand hate behaviors. Also, this study could be reproduced with some adjustments in the design. Or, future research could study the possibilities to restore the relationship between a hateful consumer and a neglecting company. |
Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
Subject: | 05 communication studies, 70 social sciences in general |
Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/71029 |
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