Primacy versus recency effects in extended service encounters

Purpose – Customer satisfaction formation represents a dynamic phenomenon, especially in extended service encounters. A single service encounter may have an extended duration and feature several service interactions, which the customer can evaluate independently. This paper aims to offer a dynamic perspective on satisfaction formation, which indicates that what matters is not only the interactions a customer confronts but also when these interactions occur. Design/methodology/approach – Research from social psychology provides a foundation for hypothesizing different effects of positive and negative critical incidents. Negative critical incidents likely are more important for overall satisfaction if they occur at the end of a service encounter. Positive critical incidents should have stronger effects at the beginning. In a 2×2 experimental design, participants considered a five‐day holiday hotel experience. Findings – The data support the predicted dominance of a recency effect for negative critical incidents, such that a negative critical incident has a greater negative impact on customers' overall satisfaction when it occurs at the end of a service encounter instead of at the beginning. For positive critical incidents, no significant differences arose between primacy and recency effects. Practical implications – The results highlight the importance of process designs of service experiences. Managers should pay particular attention to avoiding service failures at the end of a service encounter. Originality/value – Unlike research that only assesses satisfaction formation for service encounters from a non‐dynamic perspective, this study posits the importance of the order of interactions within a service encounter.