Frustration Mitigation through Others Explanation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Frustration Mitigation through Others Explanation : The Crucial Mitigating Role of Other Consumers Explanation on Frustration After Service Failure Jee Eun Lee College of Business Administration The Graduate School Seoul National University This research is the first to examine the crucial mitigating role of other consumers explanation, which should be categorized as CCB (Customer Citizenship Behavior), on the frustration. Specifically, the consumers explanation is regarded as retrospective (explaining why the service failure has happened and why the firm could not avoid it) which corresponds to the anger and frustration (retrospective emotion). In general, current article goes over the impact of other consumers explanation on the target consumers revisit intention which is mediated serially through frustration and complaining intention. In addition, this study finds out the moderating impact of doubt about the future service (before receiving other consumers explanation) in explaining the effect of other consumers explanation on the frustration under the online service failure circumstances. Gelbrich states that the retrospective explanation of employees will reduce anger but not frustration because frustrated customers do not blame the organization (2009). Hence, current research model has its basis on the Gelbrichs research framework which states that retrospective explanation reduces retrospective emotions and prospective explanation reduces prospective emotions and coping response (complaining and nWOM) will occur accordingly. However current research predicts that when the explanation is done by other consumers instead of the employees, it will reduce frustration based on the following findings: 1) sharing emotional similarity buffers negative emotions (Townsend et el 2013), 2) frustration is just a milder version of anger (Berkowitz and Harmon-Jones 2004) and according to the 3) Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT). Mitigating impact of other consumers explanation about the service failure on target consumers negative emotion is completely unrevealed area until now. Also, this article explains the moderating impact of doubtfulness after the service failure between the other consumers explanation and the target consumers anger and frustration based on the affective asymmetry and negativity bias theory. Finally, the author states that the other consumers explanation and the revisit is serially mediated by frustration and complaining intention. Hypotheses are tested and confirmed via SPSS by conducting the laboratory experiment under the online service failure (delivery of a wrong product in Kakaostory online shopping service) circumstance. Keywords: CCB (Customer Citizenship Behavior), other consumers explanation, doubtfulness about future service, frustration, service failure, revisit intention, complaining intention Student ID Number: 2015-20652