Spin Away Service Failure Disappointment

When a retailer fails to meet a customer’s service expectations, the customer is likely to feel disappointed or even betrayed. There are circumstances in which these negative feelings can be eased by a positive experience subsequently provided by the retailer. Taking account of this finding from past studies, researchers at University of Birmingham, Aalborg University, University of Edinburgh, and University of Lille explored what some of those circumstances are.
     The follow-on experience designed by the researchers to be positive was a game of chance in which the customer spun a wheel to determine an amount of monetary compensation they’d receive. The researchers hypothesized this would work well because financial compensation for a service failure often eases the customer’s negative feelings and playing a game is in itself a positive experience for most people.
     The researchers presented to sets of study participants scenarios which included service failures in retail store, restaurant, hotel, and gym settings. Some from each group were then offered an opportunity to spin the wheel, while others received just a preset compensation amount. The results supported the hypothesized effectiveness of gamification in easing dissatisfaction. The playfulness of the game appeared to be principally responsible.
     Data analyses also suggested some conditions for this technique to be effective: 

• Participation in the game is presented as an option, not as required to receive compensation. 
• The service failure was mild. The game technique didn’t reduce dissatisfaction following a severe service failure. 
• The amount of money received in the game is considered by the customer to be at least adequate compensation for the emotional cost of the service failure. 
• The situation in which the service failure occurred had only limited time pressure. When there was high time pressure, the game technique proved useless.

     By experimenting with the spin-the-wheel technique, you could determine what qualifies as a mild versus severe service failure, adequate compensation, and limited time pressure for your situations.
     Another consideration is that inviting the dismayed customer to play a game might lead them to conclude you’re not taking the service failure seriously. Here, an apology for the shortfall and a promise it won’t happen again have proven effective in recovering trust. The apology, which can be seen by the victim as demonstrating integrity, best comes promptly. A promise, which can be seen as a sign of competence, best comes a few weeks after the incident.

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Cure Feelings of Retailer Betrayal 

Compensate Group Service Failure Collectively 

Assure Consistency By Using Uncertainty 

Multiply Recovery from Double Deviation

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Orient Causation Consistently

Suppose you operate a store which offers two nutritional supplements to shoppers, with each supplement claiming on the label to amp up a sense of calmness. The Emonox label explains that it accomplishes this by blocking reabsorption of a hormone in the nervous system. The Tymonox label explains that this supplement amps up a sense of calmness by boosting levels of a hormone in the nervous system. Which of the two supplements are your shoppers likely to consider to be more effective?
     Please stop reading for a minute now to consider not only your answer, but also why you’ve concluded that’s the right answer.
     The University of Chicago researchers whose study design I used to develop that scenario introduced their report by noting how marketers sometimes explain to consumers a products’ effectiveness with a description of decreases and increases. An example they provide is a Thesis ad stating that the supplement blocks adenosine receptors, which causes more norepinephrine release, which increases alertness.
     The researchers hypothesized that such inconsistency in an explanation between downs and ups disrupts perceptions of effectiveness. Consistency from a marketer is more compelling than is inconsistency. The study results supported their hypothesis and so indicate that in the scenario, shoppers would consider Tymonox to be more effective in amping up calmness: This is because Tymonox boosts, but Emonox blocks. And in the study, when a product claimed to “tone down panic attacks” rather than “amp up a sense of calmness,” Emonox was judged to be more effective than Tymonox. Down matches better with blocking.
     The researchers found the impact of this causation consistency with effectiveness explanations for a range of products and claims. A face cream to prevent acne got better ratings when paired with an explanation that it counteracts blocked pores rather than an explanation that it boosts turnover of skin cells. A serum to increase hair growth was rated better when the effectiveness explanation was that it adds blood supply to the scalp compared to an explanation that it suppresses the shrinking of hair follicles. The impact was also seen with claims for energy drinks, sound systems, and more.
     The care with which the researchers explored combinations of claims and explanations strengthens the case that even if this inconsistency penalty turns out to be small, it is widespread. In your marketing, match the directional orientation of the claimed effect with the direction of causation.

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Cause Trust with First-Things-First Effects 

Scotch Faux Explanations to Explanation Foes 

Construct Shopper Certainty Using Consistency

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Appropriate Shame as a Fake Review Response

When consumers describe on social media the flaws in your business or your items, you can correct the problems and announce your actions in replies. After you decisively resolve a complaint, customer loyalty to you gets greater than it was before the complaint.
     But what if the flaw is a fiction in a post by an angry customer seeking revenge? A trio of researchers at University of Richmond, West Virginia University, and University of Texas at San Antonio address that situation in a research article aptly titled, “That’s Not What Happened: Dealing with Consumer-Generated Fake Retaliatory Reviews”.
     When faced with fabricated claims and exaggerated information, your first impulse may be to reply in a way designed to arouse guilt or shame in the poster. But you might then get concerned how such a sharp retort would alienate your social media audience by coming across as mean-spirited.
     Based on their data analyses, the researchers say you can avoid the downsides. The worst alternative is not correcting the record. Your failure to respond risks lowering purchase intentions among prospects who have read the fake review. This was found to be especially so for newer businesses and businesses with less positive reputations.
     Between arousing guilt or shame, arousing guilt is preferable. As used in consumer research, the emotion of guilt is specific to the situation—“I did something wrong”—while the emotion of shame is global—“I am a bad person.” Efforts to elicit shame are more likely to come across as mean-spirited.
     A shame-arousing message used in the studies read in part, “You should be ashamed of yourself for writing such a dishonest review…. Being untruthful reflects who you truly are.” A guilt-arousing message read in part, “You should feel guilty about writing such a dishonest review…. Your actions have a real impact on our business.”
     With all of this, a finding from a study at University of Western Ontario and Queens University in Kingston, Ontario provides additional perspectives on the posting of fake reviews motivated by revenge. People who feel they have been betrayed by a retailer or a product often experience shame. It might be shame about having allowed themselves to be persuaded. It might be shame at even considering posting what consists of lies. Whatever the source of shame, though, this indicates that a retailer’s shame-oriented response would feel quite appropriate to the poster of the fake review.

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Aim Away from Shame 

Prevent Store Brand Sabotage 

Select True Online Reviews for Trust 

Mobilize Cause & Guilt Against Fake News

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Discount Discounting for Stigmatized

A discounted price on products linked to a stigmatized identity is perceived as insulting by consumers who have that stigmatized identity.
     This finding makes sense when you understand the reason. Researchers at University of British Columbia, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and University of Alberta asked a sample of Latino Americans to look at a display of six beverage mugs, with one of the mugs inscribed “Proud to be Latino.” For some of the participants, the “Proud to be Latino” mug was labeled with a price 40% less than the price of the other mugs. For the remaining participants, all mugs carried the same price.
     Those told there was a discount subsequently had a less positive attitude toward the mug company and were more likely to say the company showed disrespect toward them.
     In a companion study where the participants were white Americans, this difference was not seen. Whether or not the “Proud to be Latino” mug in the set was being offered at a discount made no real difference in ratings of attitude toward the mug company and perceived disrespect toward the Latino-American community among the white American sample.
     The researchers’ explanation for this effect is that when a company offers a price discount only on a product linked to a group stigmatized by majority society, members of this stigmatized group think the company considers them to be inferior. Other studies in the set yielded evidence supporting this explanation, including LGBT consumers considering a water bottle bearing a rainbow design, African American consumers considering a water bottle labeled “Black Lives Matter,” and Asian American consumers considering a water bottle labeled “Asian Lives Matter.”
     A retailer’s offer of a price discount on items celebrating a stigmatized identity could be intended to counteract the stigma. It also could be intended to clear inventory of items which are not selling well because of the stigma. In any case, leaving members of a group of consumers feeling disrespected is a poor business practice.
     Still other of the researchers’ studies suggest three different ways a retailer can overcome the effect: 

• Partner with members of the stigmatized group to market the items 
• Simultaneously offer discounts on items not linked to the stigmatized group 
• Instead of offering a price discount, offer free shipping or buy-one-get-one-for-free

     Also helpful, says other research, are clear signals throughout your store and transactions that you welcome members of the stigmatized group spending their money and time with you.

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Welcome the Stigmatized 

Discount Doubts About Veterans’ Discounts 

Envision How Envy Affects Shoppers

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