An assessment of consumers’ subconscious responses to frontline employees’ attractiveness in a service failure and recovery situation
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences
| Field | Value | |
| Title | An assessment of consumers’ subconscious responses to frontline employees’ attractiveness in a service failure and recovery situation | |
| Creator | Boshoff, Christo | |
| Description | Background: Initial analyses of the impact of physical attractiveness in a business context have supported the ‘what is beautiful is good’ contention. However, in circumstances characterised by negative emotions, duress and stress, very little is known about how human beings respond at the subconscious level to the attractiveness of frontline service providers.Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess whether consumers who complain to a frontline service provider about a service failure respond differently at the subconscious level when the service provider involved in the service encounter is attractive compared with one who is less attractive.Method: Forty respondents were exposed to a video clip of a service failure and service recovery situation. While viewing the hypothetical scenario, two neuro-physiological measurements were used to collect data at the subconscious level, namely galvanic skin response (GSR) and electroencephalography (EEG).Results: The results suggest that, at the subconscious level, customers respond differently to the service recovery efforts depending on the attractiveness of the frontline service provider who attempts to rectify the service failure.Conclusion: The results seem to suggest that the physical attractiveness of a frontline service provider moderates (or softens) the negative emotions that a complaining customer might experience during a service failure and complaint situation – consistent with the ‘what is beautiful is good’ contention. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS Publishing | |
| Date | 2017-06-13 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/sajems.v20i1.1612 | |
| Source | South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences; Vol 20, No 1 (2017); 13 pages 2222-3436 1015-8812 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://sajems.org/index.php/sajems/article/view/1612/827
https://sajems.org/index.php/sajems/article/view/1612/826
https://sajems.org/index.php/sajems/article/view/1612/828
https://sajems.org/index.php/sajems/article/view/1612/823
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