Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are revolutionizing the traditional paradigm of business operations and transforming consumers’ experiences by promoting human–robot interaction in tourism and hospitality. Nonetheless, research related to customers’ experiences with robot-related services in this industry remains scant. This study thus seeks to investigate hotel customers’ experiences with service robots and how robot-based experiences shape customers’ satisfaction with hotel stays. Specifically, three research questions are addressed: (a) What are hotel customers’ primary concerns about robots and robot-related services? (b) Do hotel customers’ experiences with robotic services shape guests’ overall satisfaction? (c) How do service robots’ attributes affect guests’ forgiveness of robots’ service failure? This dissertation consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the overall research background. Chapter 2 answers the first two research questions by combining text mining and regression analyses; Chapter 3 addresses the third question by introducing social cognition into this investigation and performing an experiment. Overall, sentiment analyses uncovered customers’ generally positive experiences with robot services. Machine learning via latent Dirichlet allocation modeling revealed three key topics underlying hotel guests’ robot-related reviews—robots’ room delivery services, entertainment and catering services, and front office services. Regression analyses demonstrated that hotel robots’ attributes (e.g., mechanical vs. AI-assistant robots) and robot reviews’ characteristics (e.g., sentiment scores) can influence customers’ overall satisfaction with hotels. Finally, the experimental study verified uncanny valley theory and the existence of social cognition related to service robots (i.e., warmth and competence) by pointing out the interactive effects of robots’ anthropomorphism in terms of their facial expressions, voices, and physical appearance. These findings collectively yield a set of theoretical implications for researchers along with practical implications for hotels and robot developers. / Tourism and Sport

Titel: Service Recovery genom hantering av eWOM - En studie om e-handelns modebransch. Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi. Författare: Omar Aboukhaled & Viktor Oleandersson. Handledare: Akmal Hyder. Datum: 2022 juni. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur e-handelsföretag inom modebranschen hanterar negativ eWOM genom nyttjandet av Service Recovery. Metod: Studien utgår från en kvalitativ metod med ett hermeneutistiskt synsätt samt en induktiv forskningsansats. Empirin består av sju semistrukturerade intervjuer. Slutsats: Digitala utvecklingen har givit ett stort utrymme för Service Failure, det har även underlättat för eWOM att spridas. Vanligaste orsakerna till att negativ eWOM sprids enligt studien är framförallt leveransproblem eller missnöje över en produkt. Studien visar även att majoriteten av företagen saknar en plan för Service Recovery och istället förlitar sig på kundserviceavdelningen. Studiens bidrag: Studiens bidrag till teorin inom marknadsföring är en ökad förståelsekring hur svenska företag inom e-handelns modebransch hanterar negativ eWOM samtorsakerna till eWOMs uppkomst. Det praktiska bidraget är en visdom för ehandelsföretag inom modebranschen för att kunna utforma en Service Recovery strategisamt vilka aspekter som kan förebygga negativ eWOM. Förslag till vidare forskning: Forskningen kan fördjupas ytterligare genom att ta hänsyn till kundens perspektiv. Vidare framgick det i denna studie att den digitala utvecklingen har påverkat e-handelsföretag och eWOM markant, därav blir det av intresse att undersöka hur företag ska handskas med digitaliseringen. Slutligen är ett förslag att undersöka detta ämne inom andra branscher. / Title: Service Recovery by managing eWOM - A study of the e-commerce fashion industry. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degrees in Business Administration. Authors: Omar Abou Khaled & Viktor Oleandersson. Supervisor: Akmal Hyder. Date: 2022 June. Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate how e-commerce companies in the fashion industry manage negative eWOM through the use of Service Recovery. Method: This study is based on a qualitative method with a hermeneutic approach and an inductive research approach. The empirical data consists of seven semi-structured interviews. Conclusion: Digital development has given a lot of room for mistakes, it is also easier for eWOM to spread. The most common reasons for negative eWOM spreading are mainly delivery issues or dissatisfaction with a product. The study also shows that the majority of companies lack strategies and instead rely on the customer service department, which makes it important to have well-trained staff. Contribution: The study’s contribution to the theory in marketing is an increased understanding of how Swedish companies in the e-commerce fashion industry manage negative eWOM and the reasons for eWOM’s emergence. The practical contribution is a wisdom for e-commerce companies in the fashion industry to be able to design a Service Recovery strategy and the aspects that can prevent negative eWOM. Suggestions for future research: The research can be further deepened by taking the customer perspective into account. It will also be of interest to investigate how companies should deal with digitalisation. Finally, a suggestion is to study this topic in other industries.

航空業面對外部環境的改變、國際油價不斷上漲的考驗，如何降低成本、增加附加價值與提升服務品質來達成顧客滿意並強化競爭力，已成為各家航空公司所努力的方向。航空業由於高度接觸顧客的特性，已由交通運輸業慢慢轉型為服務業，因此本研究的重點在於了解台灣國際航線班機上，客艙環境所產生的服務失誤為何，以及個案航空公司所建議採取的服務補救措施，以關鍵事件技術法(Critical Incident Technique，CIT)為主，文獻比較為輔，蒐集自民國97年1月至民國102年5月間個案航空公司服勤管理課公佈之「客訴案例」研討與建議改善事項，共130份資料，將服務失誤與服務補救分類後，整理分析了解個案航空公司常見的服務失誤以及所採用的服務補救方式，針對研究分析結果提出管理上的建議，作為個案航空公司與航空業界實務上的參考依據。 / Airline industry is facing changes in the external environment and test of rising international oil price. How to reduce cost, increase the added value and improve service quality to achieve customer satisfaction and be more competitive has become the first priority of all airlines. Due to the highly customer contact features, the airline industry has slowly transferred into service industry from transportation industry. This study is focused on what kind of service failures would be in the cabin and the service recoveries which the target airline suggested. The study is mainly based on Critical Incident Technique(CIT), and academic research as auxiliaries, collecting 130 critical incidents since January 2008 to May 2013 from target airline’s customer complaint cases and its suggested solutions. After classifying service failures and service recoveries, the study analyzes service failures in cabin and common make-up solutions of the target airline. In the end, according to the research results, the study proposes several managing suggestions as references to the airline industry.

With the growth of self-service technologies in retail stores and services, service failure of the technology is seemingly inevitable. This has lead to the question of how these failures influence customers, specifically their satisfaction and loyalty. Customer satisfaction and loyalty drives businesses forward and gives them the competitive advantage. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to explore if joint recovery has outcomes in customer satsifaction and loyalty in retail self service technologies. Service recovery is an important factor when discussing self-service technology use in buisnesses and therefore this research aims to help further the knowledge and insights on this. The research questions therefore revolve around different aspects that affect customer satifaction and loyalty during service failure with SSTs (self-service technology). In order to fulfil the purpose and aim of this study, there has been a specific methodology chosen and explained that has been taken from the different theories chosen and prior peer-reviewed literature. The methodology revolves around the survey methodology and involves different research approaches and methods. The results of the study demonstrate that joint recovery has benefits in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, the study shows that organizations use of procedural justice will have an impact on customer satisfaction after service failure in retail self service technologies. Results also show that influencing factors for customers to participate in recovery are money and to improve the situation. New findings show that normal attribution behavior switches in retail self-service due to reccuring failure. These are the basis of the conclusions drawn from the research.

Sammanfattning Bakgrund - Den drastiska ökning beträffande utvecklingen av självbetjäningsteknologier de senaste decennierna, inte minst inom banksektorn, har medfört såväl möjligheter som utmaningar för användande kunder. En av dessa utmaningar är den frånvaro av mänsklig företagsinteraktion som tjänsteutövandet via dessa självbetjäningsteknologier medför vilket framförallt gör sig påtagligt i situationer av självbetjäningsmisslyckanden och en därefter påföljande åtgärdshanteringsprocess. I denna kritiska situation är det av vikt att som företag förstå sig på hur kunden upplever händelseförloppet i sin helhet för att med hjälp av en önskvärd åtgärdshanteringsprocess möjliggöra för att kundens upplevelse ter sig så positiv som möjligt trots ett inträffat självbetjäningsmisslyckande. Syfte - Baserat på tidigare forskning är syftet med denna uppsats att fördjupa förståelsen för kundens upplevelser och hur dessa tar sig uttryck vid processen av åtgärdshantering med anledning av ett självbetjäningsmisslyckande, samt de faktorer vilka influerar kundens upplevelser i denna situation. Metod - Denna uppsats tar avstamp i en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där 13 semistrukturerade intervjuer ligger till grund för insamlandet av studiens empiri. Studiens respondenter bestod av bankkunder inom olika bankverksamheter vilka alla upplevt ett tjänstemisslyckande samt en efterföljande åtgärdshanteringsprocess via bankens självbetjäningsteknologier. Slutsats - Ett självbetjäningsmisslyckande och en efterföljande åtgärdshanteringsprocess karakteriseras i form av att inledningsvis skapa negativa upplevelser hos kund, främst genom uttryckt frustration, besvär och stresspåslag, för att sedan i en helhetsbedömning vid processens slutskede lyfta fram allt mer positiva aspekter i koppling till upplevelsen. Faktorer vilka inverkar på kundens upplevelser i denna situation är tid, omgivning, förväntningar likväl som personalens bemötande, självbetjäningsteknologins teknologiska och designmässiga bemötande samt företagets regler och policys. Nyckelord - Kundupplevelser, rättviseteori, självbetjäningsteknologi, självbetjäningsmisslyckande, åtgärdshantering. / Abstract Background - The incredible increase in the development of self-service technologies during the recent decades, not least within the banking sector, has brought about opportunities as well as challenges for customers using the technologies. One of these challenges is the absence of human interaction with business personnel which the service performance through these technologies entails, which is especially evident in situations of self-service failures and a subsequent service recovery process. In this critical situation it is important for companies to understand how the customer experiences the sequence of events in its entirety in order to, by means of a desirable service recovery process, enable the customer’s experience to be as positive as possible despite an occurrence of a self-service failure. Purpose - Based on previous research, the purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the customer’s experiences and how these are expressed in the process of service recovery due to a self-service failure, as well as the factors influencing the customer’s experiences in this situation. Method - This study is based on a qualitative research method including 13 semi structured interviews which forms the basis of the collected empirical evidence. The respondents of this study consisted of banking customers from different banking businesses all of whom have experienced a service failure followed by a service recovery process through the bank’s self-service technologies. Conclusions - A self-service failure and a subsequent process of service recovery is characterized in terms of initially creating negative customer experiences, primarily through expressed frustration, inconvenience and stress, to then in an overall assessment at the end of the process highlighting the more positive aspects linked with the experience. Factors influencing the customer experience in this situation are time, context, expectations as well as the reception of personnel, the technological and design based reception of the self-service technology and also the company rules and policies. Keywords - Customer experience, justice theory, self-service technology, self-service failure, service recovery.

Lors de la gestion d’un conflit entre un client et une entreprise, le recours à un médiateur, c’est à dire à une tierce personne neutre qui porte un jugement sur la manière dont devrait être réglé le conflit, est une pratique de plus en plus répandue, notamment du fait de l’application de la Directive Européenne 2013/11. A l’aide de six études empiriques, ce travail doctoral positionne la médiation comme une démarche conciliante qui s’inscrit au sein du processus de gestion d’une réclamation client. Les clients qui se tournent vers un médiateur recherchent notamment sa neutralité. La décision émise par le médiateur, selon qu’elle est favorable ou défavorable au client, influence ses intentions de comportement envers l’entreprise (fidélité et bouche à oreille positif). La neutralité perçue du médiateur a un effet modérateur sur cette relation. Enfin, le statut du médiateur - externe ou interne à l’entreprise - modère l'impact de la décision du médiateur sur la fidélité post-médiation du client. Ces résultats encouragent les entreprises à exploiter stratégiquement la médiation afin de reconquérir leurs clients sachant que la médiation est la dernière chance que le client donne à l'entreprise pour résoudre positivement la défaillance du service. / The demand for mediation, in which a neutral third party offers advice for resolving a problem, continues to increase steadily, especially in Europe, where European Directive 2013/11 grants consumers the right to access mediation to resolve disputes with sellers. With a series of six studies, this dissertation offers the first empirical demonstration that recourse to a mediator is a form of customer conciliatory behavior in a service recovery context. Customers with recourse to a mediator look specifically for its neutrality. The mediator’s perceived neutrality then has a moderating effect on the relationship between the service recovery response by the mediator and the customer’s behavioral outcomes (loyalty and positive WOM), which is further mediated by the perceived procedural justice of the mediation process. Finally, the mediation status – external or internal – moderates the effect of the outcome on customer post-mediation loyalty. These findings encourage firms to leverage mediation resources strategically to win back customers, because mediation represents the last chance that the customer gives the firm to positively resolve the service failure.

This study examined the effects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on service recovery in terms of customer satisfaction, repeat patronage, word of mouth, and consumer trust in casual dining restaurants. More specifically, this study proposed that CSR will have a halo effect on negative service recovery incidents and mitigate the adverse effects of the poor recovery. An experimental study consisting of a 3x2 between subjects factorial design was used. Three CSR conditions (positive, negative, and no CSR) were matched with two service recovery conditions (positive or negative). Four hundred and eighteen subjects were recruited by a reputed marketing research firm. Results of this study showed that CSR and service recovery have a significant effect on customer satisfaction, repeat patronage, word of mouth, and consumer trust in casual dining restaurants. Furthermore, the results showed that CSR enhances the positive effects of good service recovery.

It is common practice for service providers, such as cell phone network providers, to utilise relationship marketing strategies in an effort to retain their customers and thereby to increase profitability. Customers with relationship intentions are willing to respond to such efforts while other customers will refrain. Service failures negatively impact relationship marketing efforts and thus complicate service providers’ relationship-building efforts. Therefore, service providers endeavour to restore customers’ post-recovery satisfaction and loyalty through service recovery efforts to retain their customers. However, the influence that customers’ relationship intentions have on this process has not been considered. Previous research on relationship intention in South Africa focussed only on developing a valid and reliable relationship intention measurement scale. For this reason, the primary objective of this study was to determine the influence of relationship intention on customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention following service recovery within the cellular industry. Supporting the primary objective, a model depicting the influence of respondents’ relationships intentions on satisfaction, loyalty and retention following service recovery was developed. Furthermore, a model depicting the interrelationships of the relationship constructive dimensions of the service recovery process uncovered during this study was also developed. Through non-probability convenience sampling of adults 18 years and older (residing in Johannesburg and the surrounding residential suburbs) who have used a cell phone network provider for three years or longer, 605 respondents completed interviewer-administered questionnaires. Demographic and patronage information, together with respondents’ relationship intentions, attitudes towards complaining, customers’ complaint behaviour, expectations of service recovery, perceived service recovery as well as satisfaction, loyalty and retention following service recovery, were obtained. Results indicated that no associations exist between respondents’ levels of relationship intention and their relationship lengths, as well as whether they had contractual agreements with their cell phone network providers. It is therefore recommended that instead of using relationship length or contractual agreements, cell phone network providers should use customers’ relationship intentions to identify customers for relationship marketing purposes. Findings from this study furthermore include that respondents’ relationship intentions influence their propensities to complain, as well as the likelihood that they will voice a complaint regarding dissatisfactory service delivery. It is therefore recommended that cell phone network providers use the opportunity to identify customers with relationship intentions through customers’ complaint behaviour. This study found that respondents’ relationship intentions influence both their expectations of cell phone network providers to take service recovery action, as well as their perceptions of service recovery. Respondents’ relationship intentions also positively influence their satisfaction, loyalty and retention following service recovery. Based on these findings, it is recommended that cell phone network providers should always take corrective action following service failures (such as billing errors in this study), preferably by including at least an acknowledgement, apology, explanation and rectification of the problem as part of the service recovery efforts. Such a combination of service recovery efforts will increase the satisfaction, loyalty and retention of customers with higher relationship intentions. From the results it can be concluded that customers’ relationship intentions influence their behaviour with regard to propensity to complain, voicing, expectations of service recovery action, perceptions of service recovery, as well as satisfaction, loyalty and retention following service recovery, when service failures occur. The proposed model developed from these findings results in the recommendation that cell phone network providers should view the service recovery process as an interrelated process influenced by customers’ relationship intentions. Cell phone network providers should note that customers with higher relationship intentions will attempt to salvage the relationship when service failures occur, which contributes to their satisfaction, loyalty and retention following service recovery. This study contributes to establishing relationship intention theory by confirming the positive influence of customers’ relationship intentions on constructive behaviour when service failures occur. Moreover, practical recommendations concerning cell phone network providers’ response to billing errors are proposed. Future research should address the methodological limitations of this study by using probability sampling, and data should be collected from all South African provinces. Real-time service failures should be considered as opposed to the scenario-based approach used in this study. Important influences on customer behaviour when service failures occur, such as the perceived severity of service failure, service failure type, perceived justice and attributions, should also be considered with regard to their influence on the constructs of this study. Lastly, the antecedents of or differences with regard to customers’ relationship intentions based on personality, generational cohort or population group deserve further attention to establish relationship intention as study field within the domain of relationship marketing. / PhD (Marketing Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014.

Submitted by William Justo Figueiro (williamjf) on 2015-07-09T21:47:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 21b.pdf: 900978 bytes, checksum: 6ee4cee20207dc862c785c270f323e1c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-09T21:47:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 21b.pdf: 900978 bytes, checksum: 6ee4cee20207dc862c785c270f323e1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-31 / Nenhuma / Esta dissertação apresenta uma investigação sobre comportamentos pós-insatisfação de clientes dos serviços de saúde e fatores que interferem nesse comportamento. Dados do principal órgão regulador, a ANS (Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar), tem demonstrado um aumento no índice de reclamações dos consumidores de planos de saúde. Embora vários estudos em marketing investiguem o comportamento de insatisfação de clientes em serviços, há uma escassez de pesquisas no que diz respeito ao comportamento após as falhas no serviço, no contexto de serviços em saúde. Assim, o objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi identificar as principais causas de insatisfação nos clientes de planos de saúde e investigar a influência desses fatores no comportamento futuro do cliente em termos de continuar no plano, mudar de plano e recomendar ou não o plano para outras pessoas. A fim de alcançar tais objetivos, foi realizada uma pesquisa do tipo “survey” corte transversal, com amostra de 225 consumidores de planos de saúde individuais e empresariais. O estudo é delimitado à região sul do Brasil, no Rio Grande do Sul, com foco na capital Porto Alegre e Região Metropolitana, por motivos de acessibilidade, mas poderá ser estendido para outras capitais em projetos futuros. Como principais conclusões, a satisfação com a resolução do problema influencia na satisfação acumulada, na permanência do usuário ser cliente do serviço, e em não realizar reclamação para empresa. Já o boca a boca negativo é influenciado pelos usuários com 41 anos idade ou mais, e ainda que a intenção de reclamar de maneira formal tem maiores chances com as mulheres. / This dissertation presents an investigation into conduct post-customer dissatisfaction health services and factors that affect this behavior. Data from the main regulatory agency, the ANS (National Agency of Supplemental Health), has shown an increase in the rate of consumer complaints of health plans. Although several studies in marketing investigate the behavior of customer dissatisfaction in services, there is a paucity of research regarding the behavior after service failure in the context of health services. The objective of this research was to identify the main causes of dissatisfaction in client health plans and investigate the influence of these factors on future customer behavior in terms of continuing the plan, change plans and recommend whether or not the plan for others. To achieve these goals, we conducted a survey research cross-sectional sample of 225 consumers with health plans and individual business. The study is delimited to the south region of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, with a focus on capital Porto Alegre and its metropolitan area, for accessibility reasons, but can be extended to other capitals in future projects. As main conclusions, satisfaction with the resolution of the problem influences the accumulated satisfaction, user be staying in customer service, and does not claim to hold firm. Already the "word of mouth" is influenced by negative users aged 41 years or older, and even pretend to complain formally have bigger chances with women.

The primary aim of this thesis was to explore the role culture plays in service delivery, more specifically on consumers' perceptions of service quality and its potential impact on complaint behaviour. A key premise of the thesis was that prominent models of service quality are conceptualized largely in western contexts without considering conceptual meaning in various contexts or nuances of meaning. Furthermore, there may indeed be unique aspects of culture in each context not yet identified in the extant literature. With this in mind, a qualitative approach was employed in order to gain an in-depth understanding of consumers' perceptions. The thesis was conducted in three stages culminating in three separate papers. Stage 1 involved a student sample of Trinidad and Tobago nationals currently enrolled at university in the North West region of the UK. Generally this stage served as a pilot for the larger cross-national study. Interview data and subsequent thematic analyses culminated in a holistic, multi-dimensional hierarchical framework labelled Conceptualization of Service Quality in Cultural Context (CSQCC). Within this framework two key cultural triggers called Culture of Closeness and Culture of Servitude where found to have an overarching influence on all variables in the model. As well as uniquely including culture, the CSQCC also encompasses human resources and operational variables not included in traditional service quality models namely Employee Work Ethic/Attitudes, Organizational Responsibility and Customer Responsibility. Stage 2 which included samples of British and Trinidad and Tobago nationals, all currently living in their country of birth were part of the larger study sample. Findings from both country contexts indicate that the general structure of the CSQCC identified in Stage 1 is upheld demonstrating universality in terms of the range of factors consumers utilize in their evaluations of service quality, at least in Britain and the UK. Notwithstanding the similarities, the importance weightings for the universal aspects of the CSQCC framework appear to vary. Furthermore, cultural triggers again were found to have an overarching influence consumers' perceptions, two such triggers were identified for British nationals-British Reserve and Culture of Cordiality, and for Trinbagonian nationals two additional triggers-Festive Culture and Culture of Entitlement. Data for Stage 3 was collected at the same time at Stage 2 and involved a cross-national analysis of consumer complaint behaviour. Based on the empirical data a Cultural Framework of Consumer Complaint Behaviour (CFCCB) was proposed inclusive of consumers' behavioural processes and post-interaction behavioural outcomes. There are four key processes-cognitive, motivational, environmental and emotive-with emotions playing a central role. The unique cultural triggers identified in Stages 1 and 2 were also found to influence these behavioural processes which in turn impact behavioural outcomes. To the best of the researcher's knowledge such a holistic model as the CFCCB has not been previously conceptualized. There is no such thing as "culture-free" behaviour; culture and human behaviour are deeply intertwined, and thus multinationals and global firms need to be environmentally sensitive, identify the cultural triggers in potential markets, and assess their likely impact on service quality delivery.