What may lead you to recommend and revisit a hotel after a service failure instead of complaining?

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine how a failure in the treatment received by consumers influences their intention to revisit a hotel, to recommend a hotel or to complain to a third party. The authors analyse perceived interpersonal justice, the role played by past encounters and the influence of consumer gender in a hotel recovery process. Design/methodology/approach – Using experimentation methodology applied to the hotel sector, the authors present four scenarios in a 2 × 2 (interpersonal justice/no interpersonal justice, prior experience/no prior experience) design with a sample of 352 consumers. Findings – The results obtained highlight the importance of interpersonal justice in a situation of service failure and the influence that prior experience and gender exert in the context of the hospitality industry. The study provides empirical evidence that, in a service failure setting, behavioural intentions (word of mouth, third-party complaints and intention to revisit) are conditioned by three different consumer characteristics, one affective (perceived interpersonal justice of the service provided), one cognitive (knowledge as a result of prior experience) and one socio-demographic (gender, important because of the differences between male and female consumer behaviour). Originality/value – This study proposes using the social cognitive theory in a service recovery process within a hospitality industry context. This theory has been successfully exploited in different areas, but in marketing research (especially in studies about service failure and recovery), it has not been applied. However, its use in marketing is particularly interesting because, through the consideration of three variables (perceived interpersonal justice, prior experience and consumer gender), the service provider could obtain knowledge from consumers interactions to help develop a better and more successful recovery system.