Customer intention to participate in service recovery: what is it and what are the drivers?

Abstract

Purpose Customer participation (CP) in service recovery is one of the ways to co-create value with the service provider. Most existing studies assume that customers are willing to participate in service recovery, provided the firm offers them the opportunity. In this study, the authors propose the construct named customer intention to participate in service recovery (CIPSR), develop a scale for it and argue that it is not always implicit but rather is dependent on the consumer's perceived control. Design/methodology/approach A multi-method approach was used with a combination of qualitative interviews, literature review, unaided dimension identification, correspondence analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling to develop the CIPSR scale. The authors used structural equation modelling to test the proposed effect of perceived control on CIPSR. Findings The study proposes a four-dimensional scale for CIPSR. The authors also found support for the effect of perceived control on CIPSR, with anxiety and failure controllability attribution as intermediate variables. Originality/value This study develops a comprehensive scale to measure CIPSR using a rigorous multi-method technique, as well as establishes its importance in the existing literature.