Browsing by Author "Crisafulli, Benedetta"
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Item Metadata only Four steps to ensuring best practice in new brand launches(Ntc Publications, 2017-05-01) Crisafulli, Benedetta; Singh, JaywantWhen introducing new brands and/or extensions, substantial promotion is often used to encourage trial and purchases. But are marketing communications at new brand launch effective? What are the best practice tools for measuring the success of new brands and extensions?Item Open Access Managing online service recovery: procedures, justice and customer satisfaction(Emerald, 2016-05-30) Crisafulli, Benedetta; Singh, JaywantPurpose The Internet has changed the way services are delivered and has created new forms of customer-firm interactions. Whilst online service failures remain inevitable, the Internet offers opportunities for delivering efficient service recovery through the online channel. Notwithstanding, research evidence on how firms can deliver online service recovery remains scarce. This study investigates the impact of two online service recovery strategies - online information and technology-mediated communication - on customer satisfaction, switching and word-of-mouth intentions. Design/methodology/approach A scenario-based experiment is employed. Data are analysed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings Online information and technology-mediated interactions can be used as online service recovery strategies. When fair, online service recovery can restore customer satisfaction, lower switching and enhance positive word-of-mouth. Interactional justice delivered through technology-mediated communication is a strong predictor of satisfaction with online service recovery. Yet, customers in subscription services show greater expectations of online service recovery than those in non-subscription services. Research limitations/implications Further research could examine the impact of online service recovery on relational constructs, such as trust. Since customers participate in the online recovery process, future research could investigate the role of customers as co-creators of online service recovery. Practical implications Service managers should design online recovery strategies that meet customer need for interactional justice, for example, bespoke emails, and virtual chat communications showing genuine customer care. Originality/value Online information and technology-mediated communication function as online service recovery strategies. Customer perceptions ofItem Open Access Service failures in E-retailing: Examining the effects of response time, compensation, and service criticality(Elsevier, 2017-07-11) Crisafulli, Benedetta; Singh, JaywantThis study investigates the role of response time in recovering from service failures taking place in the e-retail context. Employing an experimental design, the study reveals that customers construe time in abstract terms. Response time during service recovery is evaluated in combination with the compensation rendered by the firm and the criticality of the service experience. The extent to which the three factors – response time, compensation and criticality – activate abstract construals matters to customers. The study demonstrates that delaying the proess of recovery can result in customer satisfaction, repatronage and positive word of mouth, when apology is provided and criticality of the service is low. Notably, customers are likely to accept delay if their negative emotions are low. This study advances a novel perspective on the role of response time in online service failure and recovery. Importantly, it provides empirical evidence on the viability of delayed recovery following service failures in e-retailing. The study challenges the conventional wisdom that delayed recovery is inefficacious. It also suggests that the effectiveness of delayed recovery, as advocated in past research, needs to be revisited in the light of customer construals. Key managerial implications and avenues for future research are outlined in the study.Item Open Access Service guarantee as a recovery strategy: the impact of guarantee terms on perceived justice and firm motives(Emerald, 2016-03-30) Crisafulli, Benedetta; Singh, JaywantPurpose When a service fails, the guarantee policy of the firm can be employed as a recovery strategy. The terms of the guarantee determine the amount of payout and the ease of invoking the policy. The guarantee terms can, therefore, influence customer perceptions of recovery fairness and inferences about the firm’s intentions to provide fair recovery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of guarantee terms on customer perceptions of justice, motive inferences, and repatronage intentions. Design/methodology/approach A between-subjects experiment was conducted in parcel delivery services. Findings Customer perceptions of justice vary across guarantee payout levels. Payout in the form of a discount does not restore justice perceptions, and leads to inferences that the firm offered the guarantee to maximize its profits. Conversely, full refund restores justice. Full refund plus discount is perceived as undeserved, and does not enhance justice perceptions. A moderately easy-to-invoke guarantee is perceived as fair, when it includes full refund. Inferences of negative firm’s motives, however, diminish perceived fairness of easy-to-invoke guarantees. Research limitations/implications Future research could examine the interaction of guarantee scope with payout and ease of invocation, and how types of motives differentially impact justice perceptions. Practical implications Full refund can enhance justice perceptions, whereas discount is perceived as unfair. Firms should offer full refund as guarantee payout, but refrain from offering a discount. Flexibility should be embedded in guarantee invocation procedures. Originality/value This study demonstrates that service guarantees employed as recovery strategies signal justice and the firm’s motives.Item Open Access Too good to be true? Boundary conditions to the use of downward social comparisons in service recovery(SAGE, 2018-08-20) Antonetti, Paolo; Crisafulli, Benedetta; Maklan, StanEvidence shows that downward social comparisons (DSCs), messages delivered by frontline employees describing how service experiences turned out even worse for others, can reduce customers’ anger following a service failure. This study contributes to the literature on DSCs and service recovery by highlighting pitfalls associated with the use of these messages in service recovery and showing the conditions necessary for their effectiveness. Building on persuasion knowledge theory, we show that customers draw manipulative inferences about DSCs because of the perceived bias associated with the source of the message and the implicit derogation of a competitor that DSCs entail. To reduce inferences of manipulative intentions, frontline employees should both accompany DSC messages with intense apologies and use self-derogation to reduce the perception that they are criticizing another firm. Past claims on the generalized effectiveness of DSCs need to be revised. Managers should craft social comparison messages carefully to avoid negative reactions from customers. Our research indicates that once adapted to address these concerns, DSCs can be an effective recovery strategy among individuals with a strong need for social comparison information.Item Open Access When doing good will not save us: revisiting the buffering effect of CSR following service failures(Wiley, 2021-06-25) Antonetti, Paolo; Crisafulli, Benedetta; Maklan, StanPast research offers inconsistent evidence on whether CSR is an effective service recovery strategy. Current debates overlook the signals that service failures send about the company, and their interplay with CSR. We propose a moderated mediation model showing that CSR's effectiveness for service recovery depends upon failure type. For failures signaling a lack of skills and expertise, CSR enhances warmth which in turn lowers revenge. Warmth further increases perceived competence which influences conciliatory responses. CSR, however, does not help if the failure signals a lack of moral integrity. Both warmth and competence explain the CSR's buffering effect. Our study demonstrates that “doing good” helps only to the extent that service failures that do not raise doubts about the character of the company. Even in these circumstances, however, the buffering effect of CSR is observed only in case of customer–firm communal relationships. Consistent evidence from three experiments revisits more optimistic assessments of the ability of CSR to act as a recovery strategy and shows that CSR can help only under very circumscribed conditions. Managerially, we show how and when the CSR buffer applies in service contexts, offering insights on how managers can best reap the potential benefits of service brands' involvement in CSR.