So distant, yet useful: The impact of distal stories on customers’ service expectations

Na Young Lee, Stephanie M. Noble and Alex R. Zablah

Journal of Business Research, 2020, vol. 113, issue C, 230-242

Abstract: Due to the uncertainty and unpredictability of service experiences, customers often read other customers’ stories in online reviews before choosing a service provider. These stories include details about the storyteller, such as where she or he lives and when she or he experienced the service encounter. These details can make the reader feel near to or far from the service experience described in the story. In this study, we investigate how this near or far feeling — psychological distance — influences service expectations. Drawing from construal level theory (CLT), we propose that psychologically distant (vs. proximal) stories enhance customers’ service expectations by promoting a high- (vs. low-) level construal of the information presented and find broad support for this expectation using Yelp.com review data and lab experiments. This research contributes to the services marketing literature by revealing how seemingly innocuous aspects of stories embedded in online reviews influence service expectations.

Keywords: Services marketing; Construal level theory; Psychological distance; Storytelling; Customer review; Narrative transportation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296320300539
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:113:y:2020:i:c:p:230-242

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.01.044

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside

More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().