Service failure as perceived discrimination: Voice, emotion and power

Hyounae Min

Discrimination has evolved its form from overt discrimination most of which is prohibited by law to subtle discrimination, called marketplace discrimination (Klinner & Walsh, 2013). Because the line between a poor service and discrimination is blurred, service failure can be appraised as an intentional discriminatory service. Understanding the implications of discrimination toward customers, most organizations do not intend to discriminate customers based on their personal characteristics. However, the possibility that an individual service worker engages with discriminatory services also cannot be dismissed. Although perceived discrimination of customers harms organizations ethically and financially, little is known regarding perceived discrimination in the service setting. This research is to examine the consequences of the perceived discrimination. Cognitive appraisal theory suggests it is the appraisal process rather than the event itself to elicit emotion. Cognitive appraisal theory in customer complaint research also suggests negative emotion (e.g., anger) elicited from failed services/products is a precursor to complaining. Thus, when customers perceive service failure as discrimination, a negative and harmful event, they are more likely to get angry and, therefore, to complain. While angry customers complain, are there customers that, despite being angry, do not complain? And, if so, who are they and what are the implications of such customers for service providers? When they complain, do customers mention their perception of discrimination? The current paper provides a new theoretical perspective on cognitive appraisal theory by suggesting perceived discrimination as appraisal of service failure and demonstrating a critical moderator—power—previously not considered in studies on customer complaining behavior. Specifically, we theorize that the positive impact of perceived discrimination on complaining through anger does not exist among low power individuals. four experiments found that a low power state buffers the impact of perceived discrimination on complaining through anger, suggesting low power individuals do not speak up in public despite being extremely angry due to perceived discrimination. I also show that power state is influenced by atmospheric cues. Areas of implications and future research directions are discussed.

Service failure as perceived discrimination: Voice, emotion and power

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