Abstract
Purpose: - Service failure and recovery in aggregator businesses are under-researched. This study investigates how aggregators' recovery actions impact customer satisfaction, negative word-of-mouth (nWOM), and repurchase intention when service failures are caused by actual service providers (ASPs).
Design/methodology/approach: - An experimental study with 299 complainers with 2 (Complaint: Yes, or No) × 2 (Compensation: Yes, or No) x 2 (Intimation of punishment: Yes, or No) orthogonal design has been conducted, and the model is validated using partial least squares structural equation modelling.
Findings: - Recovery measures such as compensation, punishment, and aggregator efforts influence consumer satisfaction, nWOM, and repurchase intention. However, the effects of recovery measures are interdependent.
Research limitations/implications: - This study substantially contributes to academic understanding concerning service recovery, particularly emphasizing the dynamics within the aggregator-ASP-consumer triad.
Practical implications: - The findings offer managers valuable insights for developing effective service recovery strategies for aggregators by combining compensation, punishment, and effort.
Originality/value: - To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is probably the only study that focuses on the comparative effectiveness of various recovery strategies in an aggregator business context where ASP is responsible for service failure.