IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/custns/v10y2023i1d10.1007_s40547-023-00137-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Frontline Employees’ Empathy in Service Recovery: a Systematic Literature Review and Agenda for the Future

Author

Listed:
  • Mathieu Lajante

    (Toronto Metropolitan University)

  • David Remisch

Abstract

Frontline employees’ empathy is critical in recovering the service with angry customers: it mitigates the likelihood of adverse behaviors and increases service recovery satisfaction. However, the current understanding of empathy in service recovery is considerably limited. It relies on customers’ appraisal of frontline employees’ normative empathic display while ignoring the emotional dynamics of angry customer encounters from the frontline employees’ perspective. Therefore, we systematically reviewed 20 years of empirical studies on empathy in service recovery to assess the current state of the art. The findings confirmed a critical blind spot in the literature. No study investigated the effects of customers’ angry emotions on frontline employees’ empathy and its subsequent impact on emotional labor, empathic concern, and prosocial service behaviors. Moreover, findings revealed inconsistent definitions, measures, and interpretations of emotion and empathy that weaken the current state of the art. Our discussion offers recommendations fostering research on the mediating effect of frontline employees’ empathy on service recovery process quality and customer satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathieu Lajante & David Remisch, 2023. "Frontline Employees’ Empathy in Service Recovery: a Systematic Literature Review and Agenda for the Future," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:custns:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s40547-023-00137-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s40547-023-00137-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40547-023-00137-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40547-023-00137-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nguyen, Thi Nguyet Que & Tran, Quan Ha Minh & Chylinski, Mathew, 2020. "Empathy and delight in a personal service setting," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 11-17.
    2. Krista Hill & David Boyd, 2015. "Who Should Apologize When an Employee Transgresses? Source Effects on Apology Effectiveness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 163-170, August.
    3. Lewin, Jeffrey E. & Sager, Jeffrey K., 2007. "A process model of burnout among salespeople: Some new thoughts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(12), pages 1216-1224, December.
    4. Hart O. Awa & Chigbo A. Nwobu & Sunny R. Igwe, 2021. "Service failure handling and resilience amongst airlines in Nigeria," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 1892924-189, January.
    5. Mathieu Lajante & David Remisch & Nikita Dorofeev, 2023. "Can robots recover a service using interactional justice as employees do? A literature review-based assessment," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 17(1), pages 315-357, March.
    6. Janne Doorn & Marcel Zeelenberg & Seger M. Breugelmans & Sebastian Berger & Tyler G. Okimoto, 2018. "Prosocial consequences of third-party anger," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 84(4), pages 585-599, June.
    7. Mansur Khamitov & Yany Grégoire & Anshu Suri, 2020. "A systematic review of brand transgression, service failure recovery and product-harm crisis: integration and guiding insights," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 519-542, May.
    8. Malhotra, Neeru & Ackfeldt, Anna-Lena, 2016. "Internal communication and prosocial service behaviors of front-line employees: Investigating mediating mechanisms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4132-4139.
    9. Sarkar Sengupta, Aditi & Balaji, M.S. & Krishnan, Balaji C., 2015. "How customers cope with service failure? A study of brand reputation and customer satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 665-674.
    10. Holger Roschk & Susanne Kaiser, 2013. "The nature of an apology: An experimental study on how to apologize after a service failure," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 293-309, September.
    11. Wei, Chuang & Liu, Maggie Wenjing & Keh, Hean Tat, 2020. "The road to consumer forgiveness is paved with money or apology? The roles of empathy and power in service recovery," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 321-334.
    12. Chen, Nuoya & Mohanty, Smaraki & Jiao, Jinfeng & Fan, Xiucheng, 2021. "To err is human: Tolerate humans instead of machines in service failure," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tao Zhang & Chao Feng & Hui Chen & Junjie Xian, 2022. "Calming the customers by AI: Investigating the role of chatbot acting-cute strategies in soothing negative customer emotions," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(4), pages 2277-2292, December.
    2. Honora, Andreawan & Chih, Wen-Hai & Wang, Kai-Yu, 2022. "Managing social media recovery: The important role of service recovery transparency in retaining customers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Haiying Wei & Yaxuan Ran, 2019. "Male Versus Female: How the Gender of Apologizers Influences Consumer Forgiveness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 371-387, January.
    4. Park, Junsung & Yoo, Joon Woo & Cho, Youngju & Park, Heejun, 2023. "Examining the impact of service robot communication styles on customer intimacy following service failure," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Gelbrich, Katja & Gäthke, Jana & Grégoire, Yany, 2016. "How a firm's best versus normal customers react to compensation after a service failure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4331-4339.
    6. So Young Lee & Yoon Hi Sung & Dongwon Choi & Dong Hoo Kim, 2021. "Surviving a Crisis: How Crisis Type and Psychological Distance Can Inform Corporate Crisis Responses," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 795-811, February.
    7. Fan, Sijia & Ge, Qi & Ho, Benjamin & Ma, Lirong, 2023. "Sorry Doesn't Cut It, or Does It? Insights from Stock Market Responses to Corporate Apologies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 68-86.
    8. Paolo Antonetti & Ilaria Baghi, 2023. "Projecting lower competence to boost apology effectiveness: Underlying mechanism and boundary conditions," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 695-715, May.
    9. Harun, Ahasan & Rokonuzzaman, Md, 2021. "Pursuit of loyalty in service recovery: The roles of brand equity and cognitive reappraisal as moderators," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    10. Qing Li & Haiying Wei & Daniel Laufer, 2019. "How to Make an Industry Sustainable during an Industry Product Harm Crisis: The Role of a Consumer’s Sense of Control," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-15, May.
    11. Martinez, Luisa M. & Pacheco, Natália & Ramos, Filipe R. & Bicho, Marta, 2023. "Would you try it again? Dual effects of customer mindfulness on service recovery," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    12. Lei Huang, 2023. "A moderation of business misdeeds on corporate remedy strategies," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 21-31, March.
    13. Kobel, Sarah & Groeppel-Klein, Andrea, 2021. "No laughing matter, or a secret weapon? Exploring the effect of humor in service failure situations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 260-269.
    14. Yosr Ben Tahar & Nada Rejeb & Adnane Maalaoui & Sascha Kraus & Paul Westhead & Paul Jones, 2023. "Emotional demands and entrepreneurial burnout: the role of autonomy and job satisfaction," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 701-716, August.
    15. Shuyue Huang & Lena Jingen Liang & Hwansuk Chris Choi, 2022. "How We Failed in Context: A Text-Mining Approach to Understanding Hotel Service Failures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, February.
    16. G. Tomas M. Hult & Forrest V. Morgeson III & Udit Sharma & Claes Fornell, 2022. "Customer satisfaction and international business: A multidisciplinary review and avenues for research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(8), pages 1695-1733, October.
    17. Khalifa, Dina & Shukla, Paurav, 2021. "When luxury brand rejection causes brand dilution," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 110-121.
    18. Koc, Erdogan & Hatipoglu, Sercan & Kivrak, Oguzhan & Celik, Cemal & Koc, Kaan, 2023. "Houston, we have a problem!: The use of ChatGPT in responding to customer complaints," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Oznur Ozkan Tektas, 2017. "Perceived justice and post-recovery satisfaction in banking service failures: Do commitment types matter?," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 11(4), pages 851-870, December.
    20. Bougoure, Ursula Sigrid & Russell-Bennett, Rebekah & Fazal-E-Hasan, Syed & Mortimer, Gary, 2016. "The impact of service failure on brand credibility," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 62-71.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:custns:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s40547-023-00137-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.