Priority Factors of Service Recovery Strategy in Distribution Channel

Abstract

In this study, we tried to evaluate the relative importance and find out the differences in consumer perceptions regarding service recovery strategies and the service provider in the distribution industry by using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) analysis method. Therefore in this study, we tried to systematize various recovery strategies which were considered very important during service failure process in the distribution industry and analyze the relative importance for each recovery strategy. We set hierarchy composed of four items of monetary, action-oriented, psychological, and assured level as primary selection criteria and a total of 16 items(indemnity, refund, gift, gift certificate, prompt resolution, exchange, manager support, explanation, apology, empathy, acknowledge, kindness, assortment, after service, manage subcontractor, manage employee) as secondary selection criteria. We tried to take one step further from the service sector and study service recovery strategies specialized in distributor services. This study suggests various implications about service recovery strategies of distributors. First, this study can provide practical implications – e.g. service recovery efforts should be applied differently depending on service channels. There is a perceptual difference with respect to the importance of the types of service recovery strategies between service provider and final customer. Second, we can find theoretical implications in terms of identifying the priorities through hierarchy design of new recovery strategies and comparison of each element from the classifications of the current fractional recovery strategies. We hope to help service providers to build more efficient recovery strategy system based on the results of this study.