Consumer's evaluation about service recovery : the role of social comparison

Abstract

Purpose: This theoretical essay aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of distributive justice in situations of service recovery. More specifically, we seek to investigate distributive justice evaluations based on social comparisons. Originality/value: This article seeks to fill a gap in the existing knowledge to discuss the social comparison theory applied to the service recovery context. Design/methodology/approach: After a literature review, we present three research propositions about comparisons between consumers in terms of compensation received after complaining about a service and their effects on the evaluation of distributive justice, taking into account the perceived similarity between consumers and the time elapsed between the complaint handling and the comparison. Findings: Even though social comparisons are increasingly frequent, they have been neglected in the service marketing literature. It is possible for consumers to compare the compensation received after a complaint with the compensation given to another consumer and, perceiving upward differences, have negative reactions to the company.