TY - JOUR
T1 - When and Why a Squeakier Wheel Gets More Grease
T2 - The Influence of Cultural Values and Anger Intensity on Customer Compensation
AU - Glikson, Ella
AU - Rees, Laura
AU - Wirtz, Jochen
AU - Kopelman, Shirli
AU - Rafaeli, Anat
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
PY - 2019/8/1
Y1 - 2019/8/1
N2 - When customers express anger, do they gain greater returns, as suggested by the proverb “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”? If so, does the intensity of the squeak matter? In four studies, we explore employee compensation responses to customers who express relatively high- versus low-intensity anger in service-failure settings. The studies demonstrate that the cultural value of power distance (PD) moderates the relationship between emotional intensity and customer compensation: High-PD service employees offer less compensation to customers expressing higher intensity anger, and low-PD service employees offer more to customers expressing higher intensity anger. For high-PD service employees, this relationship between emotional intensity and compensation is mediated by the perceived appropriateness of the anger expression; for low-PD employees, it is mediated by perceived threat. However, when perceptions of threat are mitigated, low-PD service employees offer higher compensation to lower intensity anger, and this effect is mediated by perceptions of appropriateness. This research is the first to examine the effect of anger intensity in service-failure settings. For managers, the findings illuminate the importance of adopting a cultural lens when designing emotion management training programs and when setting practices for compensating angry customers.
AB - When customers express anger, do they gain greater returns, as suggested by the proverb “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”? If so, does the intensity of the squeak matter? In four studies, we explore employee compensation responses to customers who express relatively high- versus low-intensity anger in service-failure settings. The studies demonstrate that the cultural value of power distance (PD) moderates the relationship between emotional intensity and customer compensation: High-PD service employees offer less compensation to customers expressing higher intensity anger, and low-PD service employees offer more to customers expressing higher intensity anger. For high-PD service employees, this relationship between emotional intensity and compensation is mediated by the perceived appropriateness of the anger expression; for low-PD employees, it is mediated by perceived threat. However, when perceptions of threat are mitigated, low-PD service employees offer higher compensation to lower intensity anger, and this effect is mediated by perceptions of appropriateness. This research is the first to examine the effect of anger intensity in service-failure settings. For managers, the findings illuminate the importance of adopting a cultural lens when designing emotion management training programs and when setting practices for compensating angry customers.
KW - anger
KW - anger intensity
KW - customer compensation
KW - logic of appropriateness
KW - negotiation
KW - power distance
KW - service failure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063970273&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1094670519838623
DO - 10.1177/1094670519838623
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AN - SCOPUS:85063970273
SN - 1094-6705
VL - 22
SP - 223
EP - 240
JO - Journal of Service Research
JF - Journal of Service Research
IS - 3
ER -