Beyond Just Being Dissatisfied: How Angry and Helpless Customers React to Failures When Using Self-Service Technologies

Katja Gelbrich

Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), 2009, vol. 61, issue 1, 40-59

Abstract: Failures in the use of self-service technology are not only a source of dissatisfaction; often, they also trigger negative emotions of anger and helplessness. Drawing on the appraisal theories of emotion, I argue that these emotions have distinct effects on customers’ post-purchase reactions (customer loyalty, frequency of use), both directly and indirectly, by reducing customer satisfaction. I test and largely confirm these assumptions in an experimental study with 138 undergraduate students and in a representative field survey with 375 mobile phone users. My results indicate that technology-based ser-vice providers should provide instrumental support for customers who feel helpless and a combination of instrumental and emotional support for customers who are angry.

Keywords: Anger; Customer reactions; Helplessness; Self-Service Technologies; Service failure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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