Psychological contract breach and compensation of online customer service failure

Abstract

The psychological contract in the marketing relationship has attracted more and more researchers' attention. This study proposed that the psychological contract compensation of online customers was related to the category of psychological contract breach and the customers' individual value orientation, and tested it by a simulation experiment. 139 students in a Chinese university took part in the experiment. The results showed that the interaction effect of individual value orientation and breach type on trust compensation was significant. The compensation will be more effective to repair trust for cooperative individuals when the breach is caused by ability, while more effective for non-cooperative individuals when the breach is caused by integrity. The findings have implications for making marketing strategy and improving service quality.