Emotional antecedents and outcomes of service recovery : An exploratory study in the luxury hotel industry

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to investigate the service recovery experience in the luxury hotel industry by introducing emotions as a predictor of future behavioural intention and to compare traditional cognitive measures of satisfaction following a recovery process with measures based on affect. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-methods approach was adopted comprising a main quantitative study, preceded by an exploratory qualitative study. Findings – The study provides further support for the use of emotions in understanding consumer behaviour following a service failure. Research limitations/implications – As an abstract concept, we have only limited physical, measurable manifestation of emotions, and the construct is difficult to operationalise in social sciences research. Furthermore, this research has required retrospective self-reporting of emotions. Practical implications – The use of emotions can provide a better diagnostic tool for understanding attitudes that customers go away with following a service failure, rather than concentrating on cognitive measures of performance. Originality/value – The study has provided further support for the use of emotions in understanding consumer behaviour following a service failure.