Banking customers' varied reactions to service recovery strategies

Purpose – Through means of an empirical study of service recovery in US retail banking this paper aims to examine the link between satisfaction and various recovery strategies. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 310 bank customers responded to a survey addressing customer demographics, levels of satisfaction, types of recovery strategies, and service recovery employees. Frequencies, chi‐square analysis and correspondence analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings – The findings show no significant difference in recovery strategies or satisfaction by customer age, gender, or tenure with bank. However, the degree of customer satisfaction was strongly influenced by the type of recovery strategy used by the bank. The results indicate that recovery efforts are best directed toward empathic listening and fixing the problem rather than apologizing or making atonement. Originality/value – This study of service recovery in US retail banking provides useful information on the link between satisfaction and various recovery strategies.