Beyond valence in customer dissatisfaction: A review and new findings on behavioral responses to regret and disappointment in failed services

By M. Zeelenberg, Rik Pieters. 2004

901 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Dissatisfied customers may express their dissatisfaction behaviorally. These behavioral responses may impact the firms' profitability. How do we model the impact of emotions on satisfaction and subsequent customer behaviors? There are essentially two approaches: the valence-based approach and the specific emotions approach. The authors indicate theoretically and show empirically that it matters to distinguish these approaches in services research. Dissatisfaction and the specific emotions disappointment and regret were assessed and their influence on customers' behavioral responses (complaining, switching, word-of-mouth, and customer inertia) was examined, using a sample of over 900 customers. It was found that emotions have a direct impact on behavior, over and above the effects of dissatisfaction. Hence, the authors argue against incorporating emotions such as regret and disappointment into a general (dis)satisfaction measure (i.e., the valence-based approach), and in favor of a specific emotions approach to customer dissatisfaction. Implications for services marketing practice and theory are discussed.

Subfields: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4b7a43951480fb495b185fb257884656aff20a7e

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In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

In Social Psychology

In Sociology and Political Science

Citations in the corpus

Emotions in Tourism: Theoretical Designs, Measurements, Analytics, and Interpretations (2020, background): “…valence (e.g., fear and anger; sadness and anxiety; regret and disappointment) differently affect judgement (see Lerner and Keltner 2000), decision making (Raghunathan and Phan 1999), product preference (Rucker and Petty 2004), satisfaction and complaining behavior (Zeelenberg and Pieters 2004).”
The Price is Unfair! A Conceptual Framework of Price Fairness Perceptions (2004, background): “However, although consumers may take no action to change the current or future transaction relationships with the seller, they may still spread negative word of mouth to vent their discomfort or disappointment with the seller (Zeelenberg and Pieters 2004).”
Appraisal Determinants of Tourist Emotional Responses (2012, background): “Appraisal is the ruling mechanism in both the elicitation and differentiation of emotions (Zeelenberg and Pieters 2004).”
Discrete Negative Emotions and Customer Dissatisfaction Responses in a Casual Restaurant Setting (2008, methodology): “As opposed to previous studies (Yi & Baumgartner; Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2004) that relied on a recall method, we used an experimental study to test the relationship between specific emotions and customers’ behavioral responses to dissatisfying service experiences.”
The effects of anticipatory emotions on service satisfaction and behavioral intention (2014, background): “There is increasing empirical evidence that emotions may better predict future behavioral intention than cognitive measures (Koenig-Lewis and Palmer 2008; White and Yu 2005; Zeelenberg and Pieters 2004).”
Emotions that Drive Consumers Away from Brands: Measuring Negative Emotions Toward Brands and Their Behavioral Effects (2012, methodology): “Recent studies (Bonifield & Cole, 2007; Bougie et al., 2003; Nyer, 1997; Soscia, 2007; Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2004) reveal that specific negative emotions have differential effects on customer behavioral responses to service failures.”
From bad to worse (2012, background): “Zeelenberg and Pieters (2004) found that regret and disappointment are two common affective reactions to service failure and linked these emotions with behavioral responses such as complaining, negative word of mouth, and service switching.”