서비스 실패 시 조절초점이 부정적 감정과 불평행동에 미치는 영향

Abstract

.Due to the characteristics of service, such as intangibility, inseparability, etc., service failures are inevitable. Studies have shown that consumer responses to service failure can differ among individuals: service failure can elicit negative emotions that vary in kind and degree. Accordingly, service providers could benefit from understanding differences in negative emotion in response to service failure among customers and from developing consumer management that can respond strategically thereto. This study was undertaken to assess differences in negative emotion and complaining behavior among customers according to regulatory focus in response to service failure. Additionally, this study examined moderating effects on the relationship between regulatory focus and negative emotion. Higgins (1998) suggested that regulatory focus is "the basic motivating principle" and described two strategies, one being promotion focus and the other prevention focus, by which individuals attain a unitary hedonic end. People expressing a promotion focus are known to pursue an "ideal" goal and tend to apply strategies through which to achieve positive results (gain) according to an emotional standard. In contrast, people expressing a prevention focus are thought to pursue an "ought" goal and to apply avoidance strategies to avoid negative results (loss) according to a rational standard. People expressing a promotion focus in order to obtain an ideal goal are considered to set their focus toward positive presence (gain) and absence (no gain), whereas people expressing a prevention focus in order to obtain an ought goal are considered to set their focus toward negative presence (loss) and absence (no loss). In response to service failure, the present study assumed that customer responses would differ according to an individual's regulatory focus. In this study, a research model was designed based on previous studies, and to aid in the assessment of the study variables, regulatory focus was divided into promotion focus and prevention focus. Negative emotion was divided into regret and disappointment, and complaint behavior was divided into switching intention and negative word-of-mouth. Surveys were administered to adults to assess their chronic regulatory focus related to physical exercise, as well as their responses to fitness center service failure scenarios. Ultimately, 434 samples were obtained for analysis, and hypothesis verification was performed with AMOS 23.0. In summary, this study demonstrated first that, upon service failure, chronic regulatory focus exerts a discriminatory effect on negative emotions (regret and disappointment) among customers. Upon service failure, a promotion focus was deemed to have a positive influence on regret, while a prevention focus was found to have a positive influence on disappointment. Second, the results indicated that regret and disappointment affect switching intention and negative word-of-mouth. While regret had a positive influence on switching intention, disappointment had a positive influence on negative word-of-mouth. Third, in examination of the moderating role of attribution processing, the present study discovered that attribution processing increases the degree of negative emotion elicited by the regulatory focus. Individuals in the promotion-focused group with strong internal attribution exhibited a more positive influence on regret, while those in the prevention-focused group with strong external-attribution expressed a more positive influence on disappointment. This suggested that, when customers with a promotion focus become aware of their own responsibilities in response to a negative service outcome, they would feel more regret. Meanwhile, when customers with a prevention focus become aware of the service provider's responsibilities in response to a negative service outcome, they would be more disappointed. Therefore, when attempting to determine the cause of a negative service outcome, external attribution would help reduce regret among customers with a promotion focus, whereas internal attribution would help reduce disappointment among customers with a prevention focus. In addition to the above, limitations to the study and future directions for this research are discussed. Altogether, the results of this study suggest that regulatory focus impacts specific negative emotions (regret, disappointment) that elicit switching intention and negative word-of-mouth among customers. Moreover, the degree of negative emotion appears to be heightened by attribution processing. Accordingly, service providers would benefit from comprehending by what regulatory focus customers are affected. Additionally, effective service recovery that includes information on regulatory focus would be helpful to alleviating negative emotions among customers upon service failure and to preventing complaining behavior.