Silent Voices: Nonbehavioral Reactions to Service Failures
Abstract
Past research has focused on complainers and their behavioral responses to service failures, yet research on “silent voices” or noncomplainers is scant. To bridge that gap, this study investigates two types of nonbehavioral dissatisfaction responses, namely loyalty and neglect. The study results, based on 177 noncomplainers in restaurant, auto-repair, and medical services, indicate that a higher emotional bonding leads customers to choose loyalty over neglect. Also, return intentions were higher for loyalty than neglect in restaurant and auto-repair contexts but they were not different in the medical services context. The implications for service managers and researchers are discussed.
This paper has been withdrawn.