An Exploration of Consumer Forgiveness Following Marketer Transgressions

Abstract

Do consumers forgive and forget marketer transgressions? Transgressions are defined as violations of relationship-relevant norms, and refer to the breaches of the implicit or explicit rules guiding relationship performance and evaluations (Aaker, Fournier, and Brasel 2004). Although existing research provides some evidence to support the service recovery paradox, i.e. a successful recovery can strengthen the consumer-brand relationship (Maxham and Netemeyer 2002), there is conflicting evidence that suggests service recovery efforts cannot compensate for poor service delivery, and that consumer perceptions of the brand and future repurchase intentions are lower than they would have been if the transgression had not occurred (Andreassen 2001). This suggests that the service recovery paradox occurs less frequently than thought, and that some consumers hold grudges against marketers following a transgression (Andreassen 2001; Aron 2001).