Boosting service performance by dark chocolate seduction

Purpose: Past research suggests that small details during a service may have a big impact on the service experience. Drawing from this literature, this study aims to test the impact of offering dark chocolate during a service on service performance outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: Three scenario-based studies and one field study tested the hypotheses. The scenario-based experiments varied in both service context (e.g. restaurant and mobile phone store) and service quality. Findings: Eating dark chocolate positively impacts service performance outcomes. This effect is fully mediated through mood. However, this effect disappears in negative valenced service encounters. Originality/value: This paper makes a unique contribution, by testing whether changing a small detail at the start of a service improves mood and, in turn, customers’ outcomes in different service quality contexts.