International Journal of Service Industry Management · 2000 · 288 citations · 81 references
Service ProviderCustomer SatisfactionCustomer ExperienceConsumption EmotionsConsumer MotivationConsumer StudyConsumer ResearchBuying BehaviorPsychologyPost‐purchase SatisfactionExtended Service TransactionsManagementConsumer BehaviorConsumer Decision MakingService ResearchConsumer PerceptionPurchase IntentionMarketingCustomer LoyaltyConsumer PsychologyEmotional ExperienceBusinessEmotionConsumer Attitude
Consumption emotions in extended service transactions shape post‑purchase satisfaction, with negative emotions tied to non‑provider causes sometimes enhancing satisfaction and the study’s theoretical implications discussed. The study proposes that both retrospective global judgments and in‑process experiences of consumption emotions determine post‑purchase satisfaction in multiple ways. The authors argue that at the retrospective level, positive emotions directly boost satisfaction while negative emotions only reduce satisfaction when attributed to the provider, and that in‑process emotions at each service stage influence expectations, perceptions, and subsequent behaviors. They find that negative emotions linked to the situation or self can positively associate with satisfaction, and that in‑process emotional effects shape the overall relationship with post‑purchase satisfaction.
The focus of this paper is on the emotional experience of consumption and its impact on satisfaction in the context of extended service transactions. Drawing on a multi‐component perspective of emotions, we present a series of research propositions to specify how both retrospective global judgments of consumption emotions as well as their in‐process experience (i.e. their experience during the sequence of episodes composing the transaction) determine post‐purchase satisfaction in multiple ways. At the retrospective level, we propose that while the expected direct relationship between satisfaction and positive emotions will emerge, the equally expected inverse relationship between negative emotions and satisfaction will be found only for negative emotions attributed to the service provider. Negative emotions attributed to causes other than the provider (i.e. to the situation or to oneself) may be positively associated with satisfaction. At the in‐process level, we propose that the experience of distinct emotions at a certain stage of the service may influence the consumer’s expectations for and perceptions of the provider performance, and/or the expressions and behaviors of the consumer himself and those of the provider in the subsequent episode. Such in‐process effects of emotions will then determine their relationship with post‐purchase satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
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