Moving beyond Perceptions: Examining Service Disparities among Consumers

Abstract

Discrimination in service encounters with underrepresented ethnoracial (UER) consumers is especially challenging to identify and remediate when the behavior is microaggressive. Such subtle behaviors often cause harm, even if recipients do not perceive them. Affected individuals may become desensitized, indifferent, or even accepting of this inferior treatment. In this research, we measure and compare actual and perceived service between providers and ethnoracial (ER) consumers. In the context of banking, study 1 of three compares satisfaction ratings across ER consumers (UER and White) and examines actual behaviors of employees across video recordings of service encounters. Study 2 employs a video scenario experiment to demonstrate how ER consumer perceptions differ in evaluating the same encounter. In study 3, subjects evaluate positive and negative service encounters. Our findings show that if actual service is objectively measured, then managers and policy makers will be able to identify and address undetected instances of discrimination.