Past research has demonstrated that considerations of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice independently influence customers’ fairness and satisfaction ratings in many contexts. Other research shows evidence of a “fair process” effect—a tendency for customers to be more accepting of poor outcomes when they perceive the outcome allocation process to be fair. Van den Bos, Lind, Vermunt, and Wilke (1997) have reported that this effect may operate only when the outcomes received by others are unknown. Set in a hospitality service recovery context, this study examined the impact of interactional justice and knowledge of others’ outcomes on customers’ service evaluations. A 2 (interactional justice) 4 (others’ outcomes) experimental design was employed in which 176 respondents reported their perceptions of fairness and levels of satisfaction after imagining themselves to be customers in a hypothetical service scenario. Contrary to previous research, evidence of the fair process effect was found irrespective of the presence or absence of information regarding others’ outcomes. Implications for the tourism and hospitality industry and justice theory development are discussed.
Adams, J. S. (1963). Toward an understanding of inequity. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(5), 422-436.
2.
Barling, J., & Phillips, M. (1993). Interactional, formal, and distributive justice in the workplace: An exploratory study. Journal of Psychology, 127(6), 649-656.
3.
Bazerman, M. H. (1993). Fairness, social comparison, and irrationality. In J. K. Murnighan (Ed.), Social psychology in organizations: Advances in theory and research (pp. 184-203). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
4.
Bell, C. R., & Zemke, R. E. (1987, October). Service breakdown: The road to recovery. Management Review, 76, 32-35.
5.
Bies, R. J. (1987). The predicament of injustice: The management of moral outrage. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 9, pp. 289-319). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
6.
Bies, R. J. & Moag, J. S. (1986). Interactional justice: Communication criteria of fairness. In I. R. Lewicki, M. Bazerman, & B. Sheppard (Eds.), Research on negotiation in organizations (Vol. 1, pp. 43-55). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
7.
Bies, R. J., & Shapiro, D. L. (1987). Interactional fairness judgments: The influence of causal accounts. Social Justice Research, 1(2), 199-218.
8.
Bitner, M. J. (1990, April). Evaluating service encounters: The effects of physical surroundings and employee responses. Journal of Marketing, 54, 69-82.
9.
Bitner, M. J., Booms, B. H., & Mohr, L. A. (1994, October). Critical service encounters: The employee’s viewpoint. Journal of Marketing, 58, 95-106.
10.
Bitner, M. J., Booms, B. H., & Tetreault, M. S. (1990, January). The service encounter: Diagnosing favorable and unfavorable incidents. Journal of Marketing, 54, 71-84.
11.
Bitran, G. R., & Hoech, J. (1990). The humanization of service: Respect at the moment of truth. Sloan Management Review, 31(2), 89-96.
12.
Blodgett, J. G., & Granbois, D. H. (1992). Toward an integrated conceptual model of consumer complaining behavior. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, 5, 93-103.
13.
Blodgett, J. G., Hill, D. J., & Tax, S. S. (1997). The effects of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice on postcomplaint behavior. Journal of Retailing, 73(2), 185-210.
14.
Boshoff, C. (1997). An experimental study of service recovery options. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 8(2), 110-130.
15.
Boshoff, C. (1999). RECOVSAT: An instrument to measure satisfaction with transaction-specific service recovery. Journal of Service Research, 1(3), 236-249.
16.
Bowen, D. E., Gilliland, S. W., & Folger, R. (1999). HRM and service fairness: How being fair with employees spills over to customers. Organizational Dynamics, 27(3), 7-23.
17.
Brockner, J., & Wiesenfeld, B. M. (1996). An integrative framework for explaining reactions to decisions: Interactive effects of outcomes and procedures. Psychological Bulletin, 120(2), 189-208.
18.
Brown, S. W., Cowles, D. L., & Tuten, T. L. (1996). Service recovery: Its value and limitations as a retail strategy. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 7(5), 32-46.
19.
Clemmer, E. C. (1993). An investigation into the relationship of fairness and customer satisfaction with services. In R. Cropanzano (Ed.), Justice in the workplace: Approaching fairness in human resource management (pp. 193-207). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
20.
Clemmer, E. C., & Schneider, B. (1996). Fair service. In T. A. Swartz, D. E. Bowen, & S. W. Brown (Eds.), Advances in service marketing and management: Research and practice (Vol. 5, pp. 109-126). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
21.
Cropanzano, R., & Greenberg, J. (1997). Progress in organizational justice: Tunneling through the maze. In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 317-372). New York: John Wiley.
22.
Czepiel, J. A. (1990). Service encounters and service relationships: Implications for research. Journal of Business Research, 20, 13-21.
23.
Czepiel, J. A., Solomon, M. R., Surprenant, C. F., & Gutman, E. G. (1985). Service encounters: An overview. In J. A. Czepiel, M. R. Solomon, & C. F. Surprenant (Eds.), The service encounter: Managing employee/customer interaction in service businesses (pp. 3-15). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
24.
De Vaus, D. A. (1995). Surveys in social research. St. Leonards, Australia: Allen and Unwin.
25.
Dubé, L., & Menon, K. (1998). Why would certain types of in-process negative emotions increase post-purchase consumer satisfaction with services? Insights from an interpersonal view of emotions. In T. A. Swartz, D. E. Bowen, & S. W. Brown (Eds.), Advances in services marketing and management (Vol. 7, pp. 131-158). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
26.
Folger, R. (1993). Reactions to mistreatment at work. In J. K. Murnighan (Ed.), Social psychology in organizations: Advances in theory and research (pp. 161-183). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
27.
Folger, R., & Bies, R. J. (1989). Managerial responsibilities and procedural justice. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2(2), 79-90.
28.
Folger, R., & Cropanzano, R. (1998). Organizational justice and human resource management. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
29.
Goodwin, C., & Ross, I. (1989). Salient dimensions of perceived fairness in resolution of service complaints. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, 2, 87-92.
30.
Goodwin, C., & Ross, I. (1992). Consumer responses to service failures: Influence of procedural and interactional fairness perceptions. Journal of Business Research, 25, 149-163.
31.
Greenberg, J. (1987). A taxonomy of organizational justice theories. Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 9-22.
32.
Greenberg, J. (1990). Organizational justice: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Journal of Management, 16(2), 399-432.
33.
Hair, J., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (1995). Multivariate data analysis with readings (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
34.
Hocutt, M. A., Chakraborty, G., & Mowen, J. C. (1997). The impact of perceived justice on customer satisfaction and intention to complain in a service recovery. In M. Brucks & D. J. MacInnis (Eds.), Advances in consumer research (Vol. 24, pp. 457-463). Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research.
35.
Homans, G. C. (1961). Social behaviour: Its elementary forms. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
36.
Hurley, R. F. (1998). Service disposition and personality: A review and a classification scheme for understanding where service disposition has an effect on customers. In T. A. Swartz, D. E. Bowen, & S. W. Brown (Eds.), Advances in services marketing and management (Vol. 7, pp. 159-191). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
37.
Iacobucci, D., Ostrom, A., & Grayson, K. (1995). Distinguishing service quality and customer satisfaction: The voice of the consumer. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 4(3), 277-303.
38.
Johnston, R. (1995). Service failure and recovery: Impact, attributes and process. In T. A. Swartz, D. E. Bowen, & S. W. Brown (Eds.), Advances in services marketing and management (Vol. 4, pp. 211-228). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
39.
Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (1997, July-August). Fair process: Managing in the knowledge economy. Harvard Business Review, 65-75.
40.
Korsgaard, M. A., Schweiger, D. M., & Sapienza, H. J. (1995). Building commitment, attachment, and trust in strategic decision-making teams: The role of procedural justice. Academy of Management Journal, 38(1), 60-84.
41.
Leventhal, G. S. (1980). What should be done with equity theory? New approaches to the study of fairness in social relationships. In K. J. Gergen, M. S. Greenberg, & R. H. Willis (Eds.), Social exchanges: Advances in theory and research (pp. 27-55). New York: Plenum.
42.
Lewis, B. R., & Entwistle, T. W. (1990). Managing the service encounter: A focus on the employee. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 1(3), 41-52.
43.
Lind, E. A., & Lissak, R. I. (1985). Apparent impropriety and procedural fairness judgments. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21, 19-29.
44.
Lind, E. A., & Tyler, T. R. (1988). The social psychology of procedural justice. New York: Plenum.
45.
Lovelock, C. H., Patterson, P. G., & Walker, R. H. (1998). Services marketing: Australia and New Zealand. Sydney, Australia: Prentice Hall.
46.
Mattila, A. S. (1999). An examination of factors affecting service recovery in a restaurant setting. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 23(3), 284-298.
47.
Mattsson, J. (1994). Improving service quality in person-to-person encounters: Integrating findings from multi-disciplinary review. The Services Industries Journal, 14(1), 45-61.
48.
Mikula, G. (1986). The experience of injustice: Toward a better understanding of its phenomenology. In H. W. Bierhoff, R. L. Cohen, & J. Greenberg (Eds.), Justice in social relations (pp. 103-123). New York: Plenum.
49.
Nikolich, M. A., & Sparks, B. A. (1995). The hospitality service encounter: The role of communication. Hospitality Research Journal, 19(2), 43-56.
50.
Oliver, R. L., & Swan, J. E. (1989, April). Consumer perceptions of interpersonal equity and satisfaction in transactions: A field survey approach. Journal of Marketing, 53, 21-35.
51.
Price, L. L., Arnould, E. J., & Deibler, S. L. (1995). Consumers’ emotional responses to service encounters: The influence of the service provider. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 6(3), 34-63.
52.
Price, L. L., Arnould, E. J., & Tierney, P. (1995, April). Going to extremes: Managing service encounters and assessing provider performance. Journal of Marketing, 59, 83-97.
53.
Roese, N. J. (1997). Counterfactual thinking. Psychological Bulletin, 121(1), 133-148.
54.
Roese, N. J., & Olson, J. M. (1997). Counterfactual thinking: The intersection of affect and function. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 29, pp. 1-59). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
55.
Romm, D. (1989). “Restauration” theater: Giving direction to service. The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 29(4), 31-39.
56.
Schneider, B. (1973). The perception of organizational climate: The customer’s view. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57, 248-256.
57.
Schneider, B. (1990). The climate for service: An application of the climate construct. In B. Schneider (Ed.), Organizational climate and culture (pp. 383-412). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
58.
Schneider, B., & Bowen, D. E. (1985). Employee and customer perceptions of service in banks: Replication and extension. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70(3), 423-433.
59.
Schneider, B., Parkington, J. J., & Buxton, V. M. (1980, June). Employee and customer perceptions of service in banks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 25, 252-267.
60.
Seiders, K., & Berry, L. L. (1998). Service fairness: What it is and why it matters. Academy of Management Executive, 12(2), 8-20.
61.
Siehl, C., Bowen, D. E., & Pearson, C. M. (1992). Service encounters as rites of integration: An information processing model. Organization Science, 3(4), 537-555.
62.
Solomon, M. R., Surprenant, C.C.J.A., & Gutman, E. G. (1985, Winter). A role theory perspective on dyadic interactions: The service encounter. Journal of Marketing, 49, 99-111.
63.
Sparks, B. A., & McColl-Kennedy, J. R. (2000). Justice strategy options for increased customer satisfaction in a service recovery setting. Journal of Business Research, 50, 1-10.
64.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). New York: HarperCollins.
65.
Tax, S. S. (1993). The role of perceived justice and complaint resolutions: Implications for services and relationship marketing. Dissertation Abstracts International, 54(7), 26547A.
66.
Tax, S. S., & Brown, S. W. (1998). Recovering and learning from service failure. Sloan Management Review, 40(1), 75-88.
67.
Tax, S. S., Brown, S. W., & Chandrashekaran, M. (1998). Customer evaluations of service complaint experiences: Implications for relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 62, 60-76.
68.
Thibaut, J., & Walker, L. (1975). Procedural justice: A psychological analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
69.
Tyler, T. R., & Bies, R. J. (1990). Beyond formal procedures: The interpersonal context of procedural justice. In J. S. Carroll (Ed.), Applied social psychology and organizational settings (pp. 77-98). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
70.
Van den Bos, K., Lind, E. A., Vermunt, R., & Wilke, H.A.M. (1997). How do I judge my outcome when I do not know the outcome of others? The psychology of the fair process effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1034-1046.
71.
Van den Bos, K., Wilke, H.A.M., Lind, E. A., & Vermunt, R. (1998). Evaluating outcomes by means of the fair process effect: Evidence for different processes in fairness and satisfaction judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1493-1503.
72.
Westbrook, R. A., & Oliver, R. L. (1991, June). The dimensionality of consumption emotion patterns and consumer satisfaction. Journal of Consumer Research, 18, 84-91.
73.
Zemke, R., & Bell, C. (1990). Service recovery: Doing it right the second time. Training, 27(6), 42-48.
