Recovery Paradox and Double Deviation: Literature Review and Propositions Development

補救矛盾與雙重偏差：文獻回顧與命題發展

補救矛盾與雙重偏差乃是兩個在本質上十分對稱的現象，都隱含著消費者面對服務失敗與補救時，其最終的滿意主要取決於服務補救的表現，而非服務失敗本身。雖然過去已有不少研究實證此兩現象存在與否，然而，卻沒有理論基礎以解釋它們為何會發生。因此，本研究的主要目的便在於透過文獻回顧找出補救矛盾與雙重偏差兩者潛在的不對稱，並提出初步的改進之道，以建構一個能夠解釋及預測此兩現象為何發生以及何時發生的基礎理論。本研究首先重新提出較能夠反映此兩現象對稱本質的概念化定義，其次發展出「偏離預期事件所引發之敏感性」架構來解釋為何服務補救對消費評估的影響大過服務失敗本身所造成的效應，最後則提出相關命題以作為後續研究之基礎。 Service recovery satisfaction has been extensively studied in the service marketing literature, and two distinctive phenomena have been identified as important strands of research interests: the recovery paradox (RP) and the double deviation (DD). The RP and DD are essentially symmetrical as both imply that the customer’s evaluation toward an encounter involving a failure and a recovery is most determined by the recovery effort rather than the initial failure, while the RP is a positive effect caused by a superior recovery but the DD is a negative consequence of an inferior recovery. However, very few studies conceptualized them in a comparable pattern; furthermore, although many studies tried to examine the existence of the RP or DD, seldom research focused on justifying why they would occur. Thus, this research aims to uncover the potential asymmetry between the RP and DD by performing an intensive literature review, and then to provide preliminary remedies. To begin with, this research proposes reconceptualizations for the RP and DD which would better reflect theirsymmetrical nature. Second, a framework of negative-discrepancy-induced sensitivity and related propositions are developed to justify why the RP and DD would occur, that is, why the effect of recovery is heavier than that of failure. Directions for further research are provided in the final section.