This research investigates how structured service environments can mitigate negative customer responses to service failures. We propose a proactive strategy that aims to preemptively manage customer expectations. Drawing on the meaning maintenance model, we theorize and find that heightened perceptions of predictability inherent in structured environments reduce customers’ need to make sense of discrepancies between actual and expected outcomes. In turn, customers are less likely to blame the firm and more likely to repurchase from it. Our research includes a field experiment and three online and lab experiments across various contexts. We identify key boundary conditions: structured environments are less effective when failures appear predictable due to recurring causes (stability attribution) or when the firm could have prevented them (controllability attribution). Furthermore, if the firm is merely associated with the failure but not directly involved, the mitigating effect of structured environments does also not occur. These insights offer managers a novel proactive strategy to buffer customer responses to service failures.
AakerJennifer L. (1997), “Dimensions of Brand Personality,”Journal of Marketing Research, 34 (3), 347-56.
2.
AffonsoFelipe M.JaniszewskiChris (2023), “Marketing by Design: The Influence of Perceptual Structure on Brand Performance,”Journal of Marketing, 87 (5), 736-54.
3.
AlbrechtArne K.WalshGianfrancoBeattySharon E. (2017), “Perceptions of Group Versus Individual Service Failures and their Effects on Customer Outcomes: The Role of Attributions and Customer Entitlement,”Journal of Service Research, 20 (2), 188-203.
4.
BardenJamiePettyRichard E. (2008), “The Mere Perception of Elaboration Creates Attitude Certainty: Exploring the Thoughtfulness Heuristic,”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95 (3), 489-509.
5.
BassiliJohn N.RacineJohn P. (1990), “On the Process Relationship Between Person and Situation Judgments in Attribution,”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59 (5), 881-90.
6.
BilicilerGunesRaghunathanRajagopalWardAdrian F. (2022), “Consumers as Naive Physicists: How Visual Entropy Cues Shift Temporal Focus and Influence Product Evaluations,”Journal of Consumer Research, 48 (6), 1010-31.
7.
BitnerMary Jo (1990), “Evaluating Service Encounters: The Effects of Physical Surroundings and Employee Responses,”Journal of Marketing, 54 (2), 69-82.
8.
BoltonLisa E.MattilaAnne S. (2015), “How Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect Consumer Response to Service Failure in Buyer–Seller Relationships?”Journal of Retailing, 91 (1), 140-53.
9.
BradyMichael K.Cronin. Jr.Joseph J.FoxGavin L.RoehmMichelle L. (2008) “Strategies to Offset Performance Failures: The Role of Brand Equity,”Journal of Retailing, 84 (2), 151-64.
10.
BreidbachChristoph F.AntonsDavidSalgeTorsten O. (2016), “Seamless Service? On the Role and Impact of Service Orchestrators in Human-Centered Service Systems,”Journal of Service Research, 19 (4), 458-76.
11.
ChaeBoyounZhuRui (2014), “Environmental Disorder Leads to Self-Regulatory Failure,”Journal of Consumer Research, 40 (6), 1203-18.
12.
CoxeStefanyWestStephen G.AikenLeona S. (2009), “The Analysis of Count Data: A Gentle Introduction to Poisson Regression and Its Alternatives,”Journal of Personality Assessment, 91 (2), 121-36.
13.
DavidowMoshe (2003), “Organizational Responses to Customer Complaints: What Works and What Doesn’t,”Journal of Service Research, 5 (3), 225-50.
14.
FolkesValerie S. (1984), “Consumer Reactions to Product Failure: An Attributional Approach,”Journal of Consumer Research, 10 (4), 398-409.
15.
FuchsChristophSchreierMartinVan OsselaerStijn M. J. (2015), “The Handmade Effect: What’s Love Got to Do With It?”Journal of Marketing, 79(2), 98-110.
16.
GrégoireYanyMattilaAnna S. (2021), “Service Failure and Recovery at the Crossroads: Recommendations to Revitalize the Field and Its Influence,”Journal of Service Research, 24 (3), 323-28.
17.
HayesAndrew F. (2018), Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. New York: Guilford Publications.
18.
HeineSteven J.ProulxTravisVohsKathleen D. (2006), “The Meaning Maintenance Model: On the Coherence of Social Motivations,”Personality and Social Psychology Review10 (2), 88-110.
19.
HeintzelmanSamantha J.KingLaura A. (2019), “Routines and Meaning in Life,”Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45 (5), 688-99.
20.
HolbrookMorris B. (1994), “The Nature of Customer Value: An Axiology of Services in the Consumption Experience,”Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice, 21 (1), 21-71.
21.
JonasEva Ian McGregorKlacklJohannesAgroskinDmitrijFritscheImmoHolbrookColinNashKyleProulxTravisQuirinMarkus (2014), “Threat and Defense: From Anxiety to Approach” In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 49, eds. OlsonJames M.ZannaMark P.Academic Press, 219-286.
22.
KayAaron C.LaurinKristinFitzsimonsGráinne M.LandauMark J. (2014), “A Functional Basis for Structure-Seeking: Exposure to Structure Promotes Willingness to Engage in Motivated Action,”Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143 (2), 486-91.
23.
KhamitovMansurGrégoireYanySuriAnshu (2020), “A Systematic Review of Brand Transgression, Service Failure Recovery and Product-Harm Crisis: Integration and Guiding Insights,”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48, 519-42.
24.
KhenferJamel (2023), “A Hands-on Guide to Conducting Field Experiments Using Mobile Applications,”International Journal of Market Research, 65 (4), 380-401.
25.
KhenferJamelRouxElyetteTafaniEricLaurinKristin (2017a), “When God’s (not) Needed: Spotlight on How Belief in Divine Control Influences Goal Commitment,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70, 117-23.
26.
KhenferJamelLaurinKristinTafaniEricRouxElyetteKayAaron C. (2017b), “Interventionist External Agents Make Specific Advice Less Demotivating,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 73, 189-96.
27.
KleinJillDawarNiraj. (2004),“Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumers’ Attributions and Brand Evaluations in a Product–Harm Crisis,”International Journal of Research in Marketing, 21 (3), 203-17.
28.
KotabeHiroki P.KardanOmidBermanMarc G. (2016), “The Order of Disorder: Deconstructing Visual Disorder and Its Effect on Rule-Breaking,”Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145 (12): 1713-27.
29.
LandauMark J.KayAaron C.WhitsonJennifer A. (2015), “Compensatory Control and the Appeal of a Structured World,”Psychological Bulletin, 141 (3), 694-722.
30.
LandauMark J.KhenferJamelKeeferLucas A.SwansonTrevor J.KayAaron C. (2018), “When and Why Does Belief in a Controlling God Strengthen Goal Commitment?”Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 75, 71-82.
31.
LazarusR. S. (1991), Emotion and Adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.
32.
LeiJingDawarNirajGürhan-CanliZeynep (2012), Base-Rate Information in Consumer Attributions of Product-Harm Crises. Journal of Marketing Research, 49 (3), 336-48.
33.
LembregtsChristophePandelaereMario (2019), “Falling Back on Numbers: When Preference for Numerical Product Information Increases After a Personal Control Threat,”Journal of Marketing Research, 56 (1), 104-22.
34.
McColloughMichael A.BerryLeonard L.YadavManjit S. (2000), “An Empirical Investigation of Customer Satisfaction After Service Failure and Recovery,”Journal of Service Research, 3 (2), 121-37.
35.
MikolonSvenQuaiserBenjaminWiesekeJan (2015), “Don’t Try Harder: Using Customer Inoculation to Build Resistance Against Service Failures,”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 512-27.
36.
MohideenFahimaHeintzelmanSamantha (2023), “Routines and Meaning in Life: Does Activity Content or Context Matter?”Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 49 (7), 987-99.
37.
NazifiAminGelbrichKatjaGrégoireYaniKochSebastianEl-ManstrlyDahliaWirtzJochen (2021) “Proactive Handling of Flight Overbooking: How to Reduce Negative eWOM and the Costs of Bumping Customers,”Journal of Service Research, 24 (2), 206-25.
38.
NenonenSannaAhvenniemiOlliMartinsuoMiia (2014), “Image Risks of Servitization in Collaborative Service Deliveries,”The Service Industries Journal, 34 (16), 1307-29.
39.
NeubergSteven L.NewsomJason T. (1993), “Personal Need for Structure: Individual Differences in the Desire for Simpler Structure,”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65 (1), 113-31.
40.
NewtonJoshua D.WongJimmyCasidyRiza (2018), “Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly to Soften Evaluations of Service Failure,”Journal of Service Research, 21 (4), 389-404.
41.
OliverR. L. (1980), “A Cognitive Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction Decisions,”Journal of Marketing Research, 17 (4), 460–69.
42.
OrthUlrich R.WirtzJochen (2014), “Consumer Processing of Interior Service Environments: The Interplay Among Visual Complexity, Processing Fluency, and Attractiveness,”Journal of Service Research, 17 (3): 296-309.
43.
PallasFlorianBoltonLisa E.LobschatLara (2018), “Shifting the Blame: How Surcharge Pricing Influences Blame Attributions for a Service Price Increase,”Journal of Service Research, 21 (3), 302-18.
44.
PhamMichel TuanCohenJoel B.PracejusJohn W.HughesDavid G. (2001), “Affect Monitoring and the Primacy of Feelings in Judgment,”Journal of Consumer Research, 28 (2), 167-88.
45.
ProulxTravisInzlichtMichael (2012), “The Five ‘A’ s of Meaning Maintenance: Finding Meaning in the Theories of Sense-Making,”Psychological Inquiry, 23 (4), 317-35.
46.
RahinelRyanAmaralNelson B.ClarksonJoshua J.KayAaron C. (2016), “On Incidental Catalysts of Elaboration: Reminders of Environmental Structure Promote Effortful Thought,”Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 64, 1-7.
47.
RoschkHolgerGelbrichKatja (2014), “Identifying Appropriate Compensation Types for Service Failures: A Meta-Analytic and Experimental Analysis,”Journal of Service Research, 17 (2), 195-211.
48.
RossGretchen R.MeloyMargaret G.BoltonLisa E. (2021), “Disorder and Downsizing,”Journal of Consumer Research, 47 (6), 959-77.
49.
SembadaAgungTsarenkoYelenaTojibDewi (2016), “The Positive Effects of Customers’ Power on their Behavioral Responses After Service Failure,”Journal of Service Research, 19 (3), 337-51.
50.
ShenZhengyuXuQianJinLiyin (2020), “Structured Procedures Promote Placebo Effects,”Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 91, 104029.
51.
SpenceCharlesPuccinelliNancy M.GrewalDhruvRoggeveenAnne L. (2014), “Store Atmospherics: A Multisensory Perspective,”Psychology & Marketing, 31 (7), 472-88.
52.
VoorheesClay M.BradyMichael K. (2005), “A Service Perspective on the Drivers of Complaint Intentions,”Journal of Service Research, 8 (2), 192-204.
53.
ValentiniSaraOrsingherChiaraPolyakovaAlexandra (2020), “Customers’ Emotions in Service Failure and Recovery: A Meta-Analysis,”Marketing Letters, 31 (2), 199-216.
54.
Van VaerenberghYvesOrsingherChiara (2016), “Service Recovery: An Integrative Framework and Research Agenda,”Academy of Management Perspectives, 30 (3), 328-46.
55.
Van VaerenberghYvesOrsingherChiaraVermeirIrisLarivièreBart (2014), “A Meta-Analysis of Relationships Linking Service Failure Attributions to Customer Outcomes,”Journal of Service Research, 17 (4), 381-98.
56.
Van VaerenberghYvesDorottyaVargaArneDe KeyserChiaraOrsingher (2019), “The Service Recovery Journey: Conceptualization, Integration, and Directions for Future Research,”Journal of Service Research, 22 (2), 103-19.
57.
VohsKathleen D.ReddenJoseph P.RahinelRyan (2013), “Physical Order Produces Healthy Choices, Generosity, and Conventionality, Whereas Disorder Produces Creativity,”Psychological Science24 (9), 1860-7.
58.
WeinerBernard (1985), “An Attributional Theory of Achievement Motivation and Emotion,”Psychological Review, 92 (4), 548-73.
59.
WorsfoldKateWorsfoldJenniferBradleyGraham (2007), “Interactive Effects of Proactive and Reactive Service Recovery Strategies: The Case of Rapport and Compensation,”Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37 (11), 2496-517.
60.
YouYanfenYangXiaojingWangLiliDengXiaoyan (2020), “When and Why Saying “Thank You” is Better than Saying “Sorry” in Redressing Service Failures: The Role of Self-Esteem,”Journal of Marketing, 84 (2), 133-50.
61.
ZhuZhenNakataCherylSivakumarK.GrewalDhruv (2013), “Fix It or Leave It? Customer Recovery from Self-Service Technology Failures,”Journal of Retailing, 89 (1), 15-29.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
