The role of cumulative online purchasing experience in service recovery management

The research presented here extends the traditional theoretical model of service failure and service recovery to the online shopping environment by investigating the moderating role of cumulative online purchasing experience. Using a multigroup structural equation modeling approach to assess differences across two groups with low and high levels of online purchasing experience, the study provides empirical support that cumulative online purchasing experience moderates several key attitudinal and behavioral outcomes of the service failure/recovery encounter. Specifically, in the group with less online purchasing experience, the perceived fairness of the remedy offered by the seller has a greater impact on post-recovery satisfaction. Further, if dissatisfied following a service failure encounter, the group with low levels of purchasing experience is more likely to engage in negative word of mouth. Finally, post-recovery satisfaction is more predictive of repurchase intentions in the highly experienced group than the less experienced group.