This study examined the impacts of service guarantees in terms of consumers' perceived risks, loyalty, and word-of-mouth intent in the casual dining restaurant segment. In addition, the study investigated what type of service guarantee consumers preferred. A total of seven research hypotheses were developed on the basis of relevant literature review. In an effort to test the research hypotheses, a scenario method was developed. A total of seven research scenarios were created based on the Virginia Tech web survey system, which allows subjects to complete the survey online. The subjects of the study were Virginia Tech Faculty. The scenarios were sent to faculty members via e-mail during the month of September. The results of the study are striking: 5 research hypotheses are supported, 1 research hypothesis is partially supported, and only 1 research hypothesis is rejected. The results of the study suggest that a well-executed service guarantee could reduce consumers' perceived risks, raise consumers' intent to complain, and increase positive word-of-mouth and loyalty. Furthermore, the results of the study indicate that a specific service guarantee is much more effective in reducing consumers' perceived risks, and increasing consumers' intent to claim initial service failures, in comparison to those of an unconditional service guarantee in the casual dining restaurant industry. On the other hand, a service guarantee which was executed poorly resulted in reducing consumers' loyalty and increasing consumers' negative word-of-mouth. In addition, the results of the study suggest that a service guarantee offered by independent restaurants could be a competitive advantage over a brand restaurant not offering a service guarantee. Overall, the results of the study suggest that a carefully designed, specific service guarantee could be a competitive advantage for independent restaurant operators in the competitive business environment. / Ph. D.

[pt] A presente dissertação busca colaborar para o estudo da insatisfação de consumo, principalmente para áreas de saúde suplementar e mercados regulados por órgão governamental, contribuindo para estudos acadêmicos e ações empresariais. Para isso, buscou compreender os fatores envolvidos na formação de insatisfação com os serviços de gerenciamento das ações de saúde de uma operadora de saúde suplementar brasileira. O levantamento se baseou em uma pesquisa qualitativa com vinte entrevistas em profundidade com beneficiários da operadora em questão, que formalizaram reclamação em canais da própria organização, do órgão regulador do setor (ANS) ou repercutiram negativamente com conhecidos. A partir dos dados coletados, foi possível encontrar cinco categorias de análise: expectativa do consumidor antes do uso do serviço, o conhecimento prévio do consumidor, os aspectos da prestação de serviço de maior influência na insatisfação de consumo, a forte presença de sentimentos dos consumidores sobre o serviço e as influências nos comportamentos pós-insatisfação. / [en] The present dissertation aims to contribute to the study of consumption dissatisfaction, mainly to supplement the areas of health and markets regulated by government agency, contributing to academic studies and business actions. To do so, it sought to understand the factors involved in the formation of dissatisfaction with the management services of health actions of a Brazilian supplementary health care provider. The survey was based in a qualitative research with 20 in-depth interviews with the beneficiaries from the chosen health care provider, which have formalized complaint in the organization s own communication channels or industry regulator (ANS). From the collected data, it was possible to find five categories of analysis: consumer expectation before usage of the service, prior knowledge of the consumer, the service s aspects that influence the most on consumer dissatisfaction, the strong presence of consumers feelings on the perception of the service and the influence on post-dissatisfaction behaviors.