Journal of Business Research 67 (2014) 159166

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Business Research

Does delaying service-failure resolution ever make sense?

Yuanyuan Zhou a,, Alex S.L. Tsang b, Minxue Huang c, Nan Zhou c, d
a

School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

Department of Marketing, School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
c
School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
d
Department of Marketing, College of Business, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 12 March 2012
Accepted 26 October 2012
Available online 22 November 2012
Keywords:
Service marketing
Service failure
Service recovery
Delaying resolution
Immediate resolution
Service separation

a b s t r a c t
Conventional wisdom suggests that service providers should respond to their failures as quickly as possible. Some
research, however, points out that delaying resolutions may produce highly desirable results. The study here investigates these competing views by examining under which conditions an immediate or a delaying resolution produces more positive consumer responses in term of re-patronage and negative word-of-mouth intentions.
Based on the concept of service separation, this research identies an interaction effect between service separation
(separated service, non-separated service) and response timing (immediate response, delaying response) on
consumers' post-consumption intention. This research also nds that the relationship between service
separation-response timing interaction and consumer response is mediated by consumers' negative emotions.
This study contributes to rening our understanding of consumer psychology in service recovery. Practically, the
studies also enable service providers to better allocate their resources to recover different types of services' failure.
2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Surely early interventions are better than later ones, and offering
people the services of a trained professional is better than asking
them to sit and write by themselves. But we would be wrongIt
turns out that making people undergo CISD [Critical Incident
Stress Debrieng] right after a trauma impedes the natural healing
processWilson (2011)

1. Introduction
When should a service provider recover a service failure? Most
consumers, probably including you, will say immediately, of course!
Yes, in some cases, such as in medical service, the service provider
must recover its failure as quickly as possible as it may cause
human lives. However, is the as-quickly-as-possible service recovery
belief valid in all circumstances?
Main-stream research ndings support the as-quickly-as-possible
belief (Boshoff, 1997; Dub-Rioux, Schmitt, & Leclerc, 1989; Taylor,
1994). A delaying resolution requires a consumer to wait thus results
in negative emotions (Nie, 2000). Negative emotions then in turn
produce adversarial reactions, such as non-repurchase and negative
word-of-mouth (WoM) (Chebat & Slusarczyk, 2005; Schoefer, 2008;
Schoefer & Diamantopoulos, 2008). Therefore, some scholars argue
that timely resolution is a standard to which providers should conform (Wirtz & Mattila, 2004).
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 027 8754 2754.
E-mail addresses: Zhouyuanyuanmkt@126.com (Y. Zhou), tsangSL@hkbu.edu.hk
(A.S.L. Tsang), Huangminxue@whu.edu.cn (M. Huang), nan.zhou@cityu.edu.hk (N. Zhou).
0148-2963/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.10.009

However, some scholars propose an opposing view. They argue

that a delay may produce better consumer responses to the recovery
strategy (Davidow, 2003; Karatepe & Ekiz, 2004; Mattila & Mount,
2003). Neuropsychology theory suggests that a delay can have a
quenching effect on conicts between consumers and service providers (Brehm, 1999). Specically, a passage of time can calm down
the initial negative emotions triggered by a service failure, enabling
consumers to respond to rms' resolution efforts relatively rationally.
Thus, a delay can serve as a buffer enabling consumers to fade out initial negative emotions, in turn enhancing the effectiveness of a recovery resolution.
These two streams of research suggest two competing effects of
delaying resolutions. An exaggerating effect suggests that a delay
triggers negative consumer responses. In contrast, a buffering effect
suggests that a delay calms customers, thus producing favorable resolution results. This research aims to distinguish situations under
which delaying response leads to an exaggerating or a buffering effect. A pilot study shows that a delaying resolution produces better
consumer responses. Nevertheless, this pilot study should ignore variables that moderate the relationship between response timing and
consumer response.
A dominant assumption within service literature is that service is
non-separated so that consumers are always on the spot from service
production to consumption. However, many researchers severely challenge this assumption in recent years. They have provided ample examples indicating that separating service production and its consumption
is increasingly common (Edvardsson, Gustafsson, & Roos, 2005; Keh &
Pang, 2010; Lovelock, 2000; Lovelock & Gummesson, 2004; Vargo &
Lusch, 2004). Based on this argument, this research introduces service

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Y. Zhou et al. / Journal of Business Research 67 (2014) 159166

separation (separated service, non-separated service) as a moderator

affecting whether different response timing (immediate, delaying) of
a resolution produces favorable or unfavorable consumer responses.
This research argues that in a non-separated service's failure, an immediate resolution produces more favorable consumer responses, with regard to re-patronage and negative WoM intention, than a resolution
delay. However, a resolution delay produces more favorable responses
in a separated service's failure. This research further includes consumers' negative emotions as a mediator in explaining the interaction
between the two types of service separation.
A second study identies an interaction effect between service separation and response timing on consumers' post-consumption intention. Compared with an immediate resolution, the level of negative
emotion is higher for a non-separated service's failure and lower for a
separated service's failure with a resolution delay. The ndings provide
valuable insights challenging two assumptions about service marketing.
Theoretically, viewing all services as inseparable may limit understanding of how consumers respond to service failures and resolutions. Practically, the studies also suggest that providing an immediate resolution
to service failures does not always produce the best results.
2. Theoretical background and hypotheses development
2.1. Two competing effects of delaying resolution
Service failures are inevitable in a rm's daily operation. Service
providers should resolve their failures; otherwise, the failures will
create negative consequences, such as consumers spreading negative
WoM and switching to competitors (Chang, 2006; Maxham, 2001;
McColl-Kennedy & Sparks, 2003; Vzquez-Casielles, Surez lvarez,
& Daz Martn, 2010; Zhou, Huang, Tsang, & Zhou, forthcoming). Response timing, an important attribute in a recovery strategy, has
attracted researchers' attention. Extant literature reports two competing effects of delaying resolutions.
2.1.1. Time is a scarce resource
The prevalent view is that a response delay to a service failure will
negatively inuence customers' post-consumption behavior (Bitner,
Booms, & Tetreault, 1990; Boshoff, 1997; Dub-Rioux et al., 1989;
Johnston, 1995; Smart & Martin, 1992; Smith, Bolton, & Wagner, 1999;
Taylor, 1994). Advocates of this proposition mainly base their arguments
on a premise that time is a scarce resource. Thus, (1) timely response is
commonly a desired resolution a rm should perform (Clark, Kaminski,
& Rink, 1992; Conlon & Murray, 1996; Gary, Kaminski, and Rink, 1992;
Gilly & Gelb, 1982). Through a quick response, a service provider signals
customers its commitment (Smart & Martin, 1992), efciency (Folkes,
1984; Wirtz & Mattila, 2004), and fairness (Chebat & Slusarczyk, 2005;
Smith et al., 1999). In contrast, delays hinder consumers from resolving
their problem and can create serious problems (sometimes even fatal).
(2) A delaying resolution makes consumers to wait, which is commonly
a negative experience and an obstacle to goal achievement (Hui, Thakor,
& Gill, 1998; Nie, 2000). Due to as-quickly-as-possible belief, people prefer avoid waiting (Miller, Kahn, & Luce, 2008). Thus,
H1a. An immediate resolution produces more favorable consumer
responses in terms of re-patronage and negative WoM intention
than a resolution following a delay.
2.1.2. Time heals all wounds
Another line of research, in contrast, suggests that timely responses
to complaints may not produce the desired results (Davidow, 2003;
Karatepe & Ekiz, 2004; Mattila & Mount, 2003; Miller et al., 2008). Advocates mainly base their arguments on the proposition that time has a
quenching effect on conicts between consumers and service providers.
First, a timely response may create a negative conjecture for consumers.
They may perceive that the service provider's quick response indicates

that it does not take the service failure seriously. For example,
Davidow (2003) points out that answering too soon may leave the impression that the organization did not even look into the problem, potentially leaving consumers more frustrated than before. In addition,
time passes in the delay acts like a buffer thus can somewhat reduce
the tension between the service provider and the affected consumer
(Miller et al., 2008). Thus,
H1b. A resolution following a delay produces more favorable consumer responses in terms of re-patronage and negative WoM intentions than an immediate resolution.
2.2. Pilot study: testing the two competing effects
2.2.1. Design, participants, and procedure
To assess the validity of the two competing effects, this study rst
conducts a pilot experiment, which manipulates response timing
(immediate, delaying) to a service failure. One hundred undergraduate students participate for extra course credits. Of the participants,
58% are female, and the average age is 20. This pilot experiment randomly assigns participants to either the immediate response or the
delaying response condition.
Each participant rst read a scenario and projects himself or herself
into a service failure. The scenario describes that the participant purchases a back cushion from an online shop. The participant later nds
that the cushion's quality is signicantly worse than the shop describes.
Thus, the participant complains to the shop. Then, this pilot study manipulates the response timing. Specically, in the immediate response
condition, participants immediately receive a problem resolution,
which is a free return plus a 10 RMB (about $1.57 US) gift certicate,
after they complain. In the delaying response condition, participants
rst complain of a service failure and approximately 30 min later receive the same problem resolution. During the 30 min, this pilot experiment conduct a learning task for the participants, the content of which
is unrelated to the research. The participants then answer questions
about dependent variables, including re-patronage and negative WoM
intentions. Four items measure re-patronage intention ( = 0.84): I
will spend money at this online shop/I won't use this online shop
again (R)/I would like to use this online shop if needed/If needed, I
will use another online shop (R). Three items measure negative WoM
intention ( = 0.68): I will spread negative word-of-mouth here
about the online shop/I will bad-mouth this online shop to my
friends/When my friends are looking for a similar service, I will tell
them not to consume in this online shop. We revise all the aforementioned scales from Grgoire and Fisher (2006) and Grgoire, Tripp,
and Legoux (2009). They are on an 11-point Likert scale (1= strongly
disagree; 11 = strongly agree).
2.2.2. Results and discussion
Results of a MANOVA (Fig. 1) show that participants score significantly higher on re-patronage intention measures (Mimmediate =
5.23, SD = 2.05; Mdelaying = 6.97, SD = 1. 82; F(1, 98) = 20.15,
p b 0.001) and lower on negative WoM measures (Mimmediate = 5.94,
SD = 2.07; Mdelaying = 4.18, SD = 1. 70; F(1, 98) = 21.56, p b 0.001) in
the delaying response condition than in the immediate response
condition.
The pilot study supports the notion that a delaying resolution to a
service failure produces better consumer responses than an immediate resolution. However, it is too early to conclude that immediate
resolutions produce relatively inferior consumer responses. Instead,
a subsequent question needs consideration about any variables that
dene the condition in which an immediate resolution produce better
consumer responses and vice versa. A comprehensive literature review helps in revealing a dominant assumption within the service
marketing literature that service is non-separated in that consumers
are always on the spot of service, from its production through

Y. Zhou et al. / Journal of Business Research 67 (2014) 159166

Immediate-response condition

Delaying-response condition

161

According to this concept of service separation, this research posits

that the difference between non-separated service and separated service will inuence consumers' post-consumption intention across different response timing (Fig. 2).

8
6

2.4. The role of negative emotion in response timing-service separation

interaction

4
2
0

Re-patronage intention

Negative WoM intention

Fig. 1. The effect of response timing on re-patronage intention and negative WoM
intention.

consumption (Keh & Pang, 2010). The pilot study is in a separated

service context that conrms the postulation about more favorable
responses to a delaying resolution. Will service separation (separated
service, non-separated service) inuence the effect of a delaying
resolution? If there is an interaction effect between response timing
(immediate response, delaying response) and service separation
(separated service, non-separated service), what factor drives this effect? This research shed light on these issues.

Ample evidence in the service literature highlights the role of negative emotion in the context of service failure and recovery encounters. For example, Oliver (1997) shows that negative emotion is
central in understanding consumers' reaction to service failure and
recovery. Consumers experience emotional reactions in response to
service failures and waiting for a resolution (Berry & Parasuraman,
1991; Gustafsson, 2009; Kalamas, Laroche, & Makdessian, 2008;
Oliver, 1997; Smith & Bolton, 2002; Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman,
1985). Consumers' emotional responses will subsequently inuence
their responses to rms' recovery efforts. Individuals who experience
a strong negative emotion are likely to respond less favorably than
others who are in a less negative emotional state. Therefore,
H2. Negative emotion mediates the relationship of response timing
and consumer responses in terms of re-patronage and negative
WoM intention.

2.3. Service separation

As one of service's distinguishing characteristics, inseparability refers to the simultaneity of production and consumption, during the process of which the presence of consumers is an important factor (Berry,
Seiders, & Grewal, 2002; Grove, Fish, & John, 2003; Lovelock &
Gummesson, 2004; Sierra & McQuitty, 2005; Zeithaml, Parasuraman,
& Berry, 1993). A large number of services fall into this characteristic,
such as haircut and public transportation.
However, technological development has begun to question this assumption. More and more service researchers argue to reassess the validity of inseparability as a distinctive characteristic of services
(Edvardsson et al., 2005; Keh & Pang, 2010; Lovelock, 2000; Lovelock
& Gummesson, 2004; Vargo & Lusch, 2004). Lovelock (2000) calls inseparability a dangerous oversimplication. Lovelock and Gummesson
(2004) argue that advances in information technology and telecommunications have made it possible to separate customers in both
time and space from the production of numerous information-based
services (p. 32). Edvardsson et al. (2005) also points out that a large
group of services does not involve the consumer directly, meaning
that production and consumption need not be simultaneous. Keh and
Pang (2010) provide abundant examples, including nancial, entertainment, freight transport, and information services, to argue against the
inseparability assumption. For instance, a consumer can either go to a
training service company to attend a course or watch uploaded webcast
videos of the training program from the company's website. For the
latter service, consumers need not be present during the service production. This means that technology has enabled marketers to choose
between offering their services in a separated or non-separated mode.

According to above discussion, the major difference between

non-separated and separated services is whether or not consumers
become physically involved in the process of service production.
This difference determines whether consumers are free to allocate
time when waiting for a resolution (i.e., redirect their attention to
other things while waiting). This research argues that the effects of
negative emotion vary across different service separation and subsequently inuence consumer responses.
For a non-separated service's failure, consumers are always on the
spot of service, from service production through consumption. This
kind of service will heighten consumers' attention on their time and
effort in gaining the service (Keh & Pang, 2010). Consumers cannot
reallocate time across activities to achieve greater efciency
(Carman & Langeard, 1980). They will be more sensitive about the
waste of time in waiting for a resolution and demand the service
provider's immediate response.
Thus, a non-separated service failure will create a more aversive experience for consumers waiting for a resolution and subsequently magnify their negative emotional state. Extant work has shown that
negative emotions evoked during the recovery experience have a negative impact on service recovery judgments (Chebat & Slusarczyk, 2005;
Schoefer, 2008; Schoefer & Diamantopoulos, 2008). Therefore, waiting
for a resolution as an aversive experience suggests that a delay negatively affects consumers' post-consumption behavior. Thus:
H3. In a non-separated service's failure, an immediate resolution produces a lower level of negative emotion than a resolution following a
delay.

RESPONSE TIMING
NEGATIVE EMOTION

Immediate response
Delaying response

SERVICE SEPARATION
Non-separated service
Separated service

Fig. 2. Conceptual framework.

CONSUMER
RESPONSES

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Y. Zhou et al. / Journal of Business Research 67 (2014) 159166

H4. In a non-separated service's failure, an immediate resolution produces more favorable consumer responses than a resolution following a delay.
In contrast, in a separated service's failure, consumers do not need
to be on the spot and, thus, can allocate time and effort more efciently and effectively, leading to perceived time and effort savings.
In addition, a reasonable response delay will result in consumers
reacting more favorably to the service provider's efforts (Miller et
al., 2008). When encountering a service failure, consumer negative
emotions, such as anger, discontent, and anxiety, can occur essentially instantly. These initial negative emotions triggered by a service failure also have a negative impact on customers' response to rms'
recovery efforts (Andreassen, 1999; Smith & Bolton, 2002). Consumers with high negative emotions usually prevent things from
moving in a positive direction (Bless, Bohner, Schwarz, & Strack,
1990; Reisenzein, 1994; Schwarz, 2002; Smith & Bolton, 2002).
Neuropsychological research has proposed that time has a
quenching effect on conicts between consumers and service providers. Emotions which result from biological feedback intend to protect a person in problematic or emergency situations (Brehm, 1999).
Emotions are visceral factors, producing an immediate urge with high
intensity and limited duration that subsides over time (Nowlis,
Mandel, & McCabe, 2004).
For a separated service's failure, a delay creates a passage of time.
The impact of negative emotions toward the service failure on consumers' response to service providers' resolutions will be on the decrease. Negative emotions become too costly to maintain (Bonield
& Cole, 2007; Miller et al., 2008). Work by Miller et al. (2008)
shows that the wait itself can facilitate consumers' coping with negative events. The research of Grgoire et al. (2009) and McCullough,
Fincham, and Tsang (2003) also point out that time is necessary for
people's anger to die down and for them to forgive others. As the intensity of the negative emotions is shrinking, consumers will react
more favorably to the service provider's efforts. Thus,
H5. In a separated service's failure, a resolution following a delay produces a lower level of negative emotion than an immediate resolution.
H6. In a separated service's failure, a resolution following a delay produces more favorable consumer responses than an immediate resolution.
3. Experiment
3.1. Design and participants
This scenario-based experiment consists of a 2 (service separation: separated service, non-separated service) 2 (response timing:
immediate, delaying) between-subjects design in the context of an
English training program. Two hundred undergraduate students participate in the experiment for extra course credit. Of the participants,
52.5% are female, and the average age is 20. This experiment randomly assigns participants to one of the four experimental conditions.
3.2. Materials
The scenarios involve two sections. The rst section describes a
consumer choosing an English training program in a ctional organization and then encountering a service failure. The manipulation of
service separation follows the work of Keh and Pang (2010) by having
two modes of delivery for the English training program service
(see Appendix A). Specically, this experiment operationalizes the manipulation as in-class instruction (non-separated service) or watching a
webcast video (separated service). In the non-separated service's
failure condition, the student cannot attend the class because another
person is occupying the classroom; in the separated service's failure

condition, the student cannot download the webcast video because of

an unknown login failure. After encountering the problem, the student
complains to the service organization.
The second section describes the service provider's resolution. The
student receives a free makeup course for both separated and
non-separated service conditions. The difference reects the service
provider's response timing (immediate, delaying), which this experiment manipulates in the same way as the pilot study.
3.3. Procedures and variables
This experiment rst randomly assigns participants to either the
non-separated service's failure condition or the separated service's
failure condition. After reading the scenario related to the service failure, participants complete a questionnaire expressing their initial
emotions (At this moment, I feel angry/discontented/disappointed/
self-pity/anxious; = 0.68). We revise the scales from Smith and
Bolton (2002) by using a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree;
7 = strongly agree). In the second step, this experiment employs a
randomly assigned response timing (immediate or delaying), as in
the pilot study. Third, participants read the rm's resolution for
their complaint (see Appendix B).
Participants then answer questions about the main variables, including re-patronage intention, negative WoM intention, and negative emotion. The measurements about re-patronage intention ( =
0.83) and negative WoM ( = 0.76) are the same as those in the
pilot study. The negative emotion measurements are the same as
the scales measuring participants' initial emotions ( = 0.84).
Finally, participants answer manipulation check questions about
their perception of (1) service separation (no special time/no special
place/according to one's own schedule; = 0.90) from Keh and Pang
(2010) and (2) response modes (response timely/immediately; =
0.90). The scales are a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree;
7 = strongly agree).
3.4. Results
3.4.1. Manipulation checks
The two-way ANOVA shows that there is no signicant difference
across the two independent variables on the score of initial emotions
(F(3, 196) = 1.49, p = 0.22). Second, consistent with expectations,
one-way ANOVA shows that participants perceive separated and
non-separated services differently (Mnon-separated = 3.25, SD = 1.25;
Mseparated = 5.38, SD = 1.21; F(1, 199) = 151.11, p b 0.001). Also,
participants perceive that the training company responds more
quickly in the immediate condition than in the delaying condition
(Mimmediate = 4.48, SD= 1.45; Mdelaying = 5.00, SD= 1.21; F(1, 199)=
7.59, p b 0.01). Therefore, the manipulations are successful.
3.4.2. Reactions to problem resolution
Results of a MANOVA identify signicant interaction effects between service separation and response timing (re-patronage
intention: F(1, 196) = 37.62, p b 0.001; negative WoM intention:
F(1, 196) = 26.27, p b 0.001) (Fig. 3). Planned contrasts show that in
a separated service's failure, participants score signicantly higher
on repurchase intention (Mimmediate = 5.90, SD = 2.27; Mdelaying =
7.25, SD = 1. 27; t = 3.99, p b 0.01) measures and lower on negative
WoM measures (Mimmediate = 7.13, SD= 2.33; Mdelaying = 5.37, SD= 2.
18; t = 4.06, p b 0.001) in the delaying response condition. For a
non-separated service's failure, participants score signicantly higher
on repurchase intention (Mimmediate = 7.83, SD= 1.56; Mdelaying = 6.24,
SD= 1. 51; t = 4.68, p b 0.001) measures and signicantly higher on
negative WoM measures (Mimmediate = 5.33, SD= 2.17; Mdelaying =
6.71, SD= 1. 97; t = 3.186, p b 0.01) in the immediate response condition. Thus, the results support for H4 and H6.

Y. Zhou et al. / Journal of Business Research 67 (2014) 159166

(A) Dependent variable: Re-patronage intention

8

7.83

7.5

7.25

Nonseparated service

6.5
6

6.24
5.9

Separated service

5.5
5

Immediate
response

Delaying
response

(B) Dependent variable: Negative WoM

8
7.5
7

7.13
6.71

6.5

Nonseparated service

6
Separated service

5.5
5

5.33
Immediate
response

5.37
Delaying
response

Fig. 3. Interaction between response timing and service separation. (A) Dependent variable: Re-patronage intention. (B) Dependent variable: Negative WoM.

163

t = 4.14, p b 0.001). Next examination shows that negative emotion

signicantly predicts re-patronage intention while controlling for
the interaction between response timing and service separation and
the interaction between service separation and negative emotion
(B = 0.37, t = 5.91, p b 0.001). Finally, the association between the
response timingservice separation interaction and re-patronage intention decreases from 0.40 to 0.30. A Sobel test shows that this decrease is
statistically signicant, Z= 3.39, p b 0.001. Thus, negative emotion mediates the relationship between the response timingservice separation
interaction and re-patronage intention.
A similar test provides strong evidence for the effect of negative
emotion on negative WoM intention (Table 2). Following the rst criterion, the interaction between response timing and service separation
signicantly predicts negative WoM intention (B = 0.34, t = 5.13,
p b 0.001). At the second step, results show that the interaction between
response timing and service separation signicantly predicts negative
emotion (B = 0.28, t = 4.14, p b 0.001). Next examination shows
that negative emotion signicantly predicts negative WoM intention
while controlling for the interaction between response timing and service separation and the interaction between service separation and negative emotion (B = 0.49, t = 7.97, p b 0.001). Finally, the association
between the response timingservice separation interaction and negative WoM intention decreases from 0.34 to 0.21. A Sobel test shows
that this decrease is statistically signicant, Z = 3.67, p b 0.001. Thus,
negative emotion mediates the relationship between the response
timingservice separation interaction and negative WoM intention.
Thus, the results support for H2.
4. Discussion and conclusion

3.4.3. Negative emotion as mediator

The analysis indicates a signicant interaction effect between
service separation and response timing on negative emotion (F(1,
196) = 17.16, p b 0.001) (Fig. 4). Planned contrasts show that for a
separated service's failure, participants score signicantly lower on
negative emotion (Mimmediate = 4.32, SD = 1.40; Mdelaying = 3.77,
SD = 1. 06; t = 3.99, p b 0.05) measures in the delaying response condition, while for a non-separated service's failure, participants score
signicant lower on negative emotion (Mimmediate = 3.69, SD = 1.35;
Mdelaying = 4.56, SD = 0. 99; t = 3.604, p b 0.001) measures in the immediate response condition. Thus, the results support for H3 and H5.
A mediated moderation analysis follows the procedure suggested in
Muller, Judd, and Yzerbyt (2005) to verify the mediating role of negative emotion. This analysis is rst for re-patronage intention measures
(Table 1). Following the rst criterion, the interaction between
response timing and service separation signicantly predicts
re-patronage intention (B = 0.40, t = 6.13, p b 0.001). At the second
step, results shows that the interaction between response timing and
service separation signicantly predicts negative emotion (B = 0.28,

4.1. Theoretical and managerial contribution

5
4.8
4.6
4.4
4.2

4.56
4.32

4
3.8
3.6

How to make service recovery more effective is always an essential concern in service literature. This paper focuses on the issue of response timing and seeks to determine whether the service provider
can take advantage of timing to gain more favorable consumer responses. This research conducts a pilot study and an experiment to
verify the conceptualization and hypotheses of this paper.
Specically, the pilot study demonstrates that a delaying resolution
produces more favorable consumer responses than an immediate resolution. The subsequent experiment shows that in a non-separated
service's failure, an immediate resolution produces better effects than
a delaying resolution. However, in a separated service's failure, a
delaying resolution produces better effects than an immediate resolution. Moreover, negative emotion mediates the relationship of response
timing with consumers' post-consumption intention. In the situation of
a non-separated service's failure, an immediate resolution produces a
lower level of negative emotion than a delaying resolution; in the situation of a separated service's failure, a delaying resolution produces a
lower level of negative emotion than an immediate resolution.

Nonseparated service

3.69

3.77

Separated service

3.4
3.2
3
Immediate
response

Delaying
response

Fig. 4. Interaction between response timing and service separation on negative emotion.

Service recovery researchers focus more on developing an overall

framework for measuring and managing service providers' response
to service failures and complaints (i.e., Schoefer & Diamantopoulos,
2008; Smith et al., 1999; Tax, Brown, & Chandrashekaran, 1998),
but do not focus on one specic aspect of recovery strategy and its
specic driving factors. Response timing as an important attribute of
a recovery strategy falls within the purview of this paper.
Extant research identies that a delaying resolution may trigger two
competing effects on consumers' post-complaint responses (Boshoff,
1997; Chebat & Slusarczyk, 2005; Davidow, 2003; Dub-Rioux et al.,
1989; Karatepe & Ekiz, 2004; Mattila & Mount, 2003; Schoefer, 2008;
Schoefer & Diamantopoulos, 2008; Taylor, 1994). Consistent with
Davidow's (2003) statement that response timing is situation specic,
this research distinguishes conditions under which a delay can lead to
more favorable or less favorable consumer responses. An interaction

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Y. Zhou et al. / Journal of Business Research 67 (2014) 159166

Table 1
Mediated moderation analyses for re-patronage intention.
Re-patronage intention

Negative emotion

Predictors

Re-patronage intention
t

X: response timing
MO: service separation
XMO: response timing service separation
Me: negative emotion
Me MO: negative emotion service separation

0.03
0.12
0.40

0.49
1.91
6.13

0.07
0.03
0.28

0.95
0.49
4.14

0.02
0.01
0.30
0.37
0.13

0.30
0.06
4.71
5.91
0.61

p b 0.1.
p b 0.05.
p b 0.001.

effect between service separation (separated, non-separated) and response timing (immediate, delaying) suggests that service separation
is a moderator and guides us to a better understanding of how a
delaying resolution inuences consumer responses.
The emotional perspective helps understand more about consumers' psychological mechanisms. Negative emotion is central to understand consumers' reaction in service failure and recovery (Berry &
Parasuraman, 1991; Oliver, 1997; Smith & Bolton, 2002; Zeithaml et
al., 1985). A delay itself can result in negative emotion and also can create a quenching effect. This research indicates that in the situation of a
non-separated service's failure, an immediate resolution produces a
lower level of negative emotion than a delaying resolution; in the situation of a separated service's failure, a delaying resolution produces a
lower level of negative emotion than an immediate resolution.
This research has several managerial implications. Conventional
wisdom suggests that service providers should immediately recover
service failures and complaints. Do immediate responses always produce better effects? This paper suggests that under some conditions
delaying a response can also maintain favorable effects. This paper introduces service separation as a consideration context. Some services
are inseparable by nature, such as hairstyling, and some are separable,
such as freight transport. Also, there are some services that providers
can choose whether to deliver in a separated mode or a non-separated
mode. For example, you can either go to the training service company
to attend your course or you can watch the uploaded webcast of the
training program from the company's website. An immediate response
to service failure is a must in non-separated services' failures. Consumers will be more sensitive about waste of time in waiting for a
resolution and this is apt to magnify consumers' negative emotion.
However, for separated services' failures, managers and employees
can deliver their resolution to service failure using a delaying response;
this will make their resolution more effective.
4.2. Recommendations for future research
Future research should extend the scope of this research and resolve
some of its limitations. First, some factors related to response timing need
further consideration: (1) the levels of response timing. This paper
dichotomizes response timing into only two categories (immediate response, delaying response). If a delay produces a favorable response in

separated services, does this mean that a rm can delay its resolution
for an extended period of time? Is there the same effect for a slightly
delaying response and a severely delaying response? Determining the
optimal response time can enrich our understanding of the effects of
different response speeds levels; (2) the nature of response timing.
Davidow (2003) classies three responses: an immediate response, a
necessary delay to solve the problem, and an unnecessary delay. Whether a failure allows a delay should be a critical factor. Investigating these
factors should provide valuable insights into developing a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon.
Second, this paper stresses economic recovery. The positive effects
of a delay may vary according to different loss results from the service
failure. Economic recovery and social recovery differ in their recovery
attempts. Economic recovery commonly involves utilitarian resources
such as discounts and refunds, while social recovery involves psychological or symbolic resources such as apologies and explanations
(Smith et al., 1999). The effects of a delay on social recovery need
more consideration to further our understanding of the response
timing issue in service recovery.
Third, further research should extend and investigate whether and
how cultural values impact the effect of a delay. Collectivists show
more tolerance than individualists for rms' responses and differences in time orientation (Chen, Ng, & Rao, 2005). The data of this research are from China and provide supportive evidence. Further
research should cover other cultures to enhance generalizability.
4.3. Conclusion
The literature has identied two competing effects in delaying
service-failure resolutions. This research introduces service separation as a moderator and sheds light on the conditions under which
a delaying response will produce favorable consumer responses in
terms of re-patronage and negative WoM intentions. Specically, an
immediate resolution produces more favorable responses for a
non-separated service's failure and a delaying resolution produces
more favorable responses for a separated services' failure. Negative
emotion helps understand the underlying mechanism. Compared
with an immediate resolution, the level of negative emotion is higher
for a non-separated service's failure and lower for a separated
service's failure with a delaying resolution.

Table 2
Mediated moderation analyses for negative WoM intention.
Negative WoM intention

Negative emotion

Predictors

X: response timing
MO: service separation
XMO: response timing service separation
Me: negative emotion
Me MO: negative emotion service separation

0.04
0.05
0.34

0.62
0.75
5.13

0.07
0.03
0.28

0.95
0.49
4.14

0.06
0.04
0.21
0.49
0.11

1.05
0.19
3.40
7.97
0.54

pb 0.1.
p b 0.05.
p b 0.001.

Negative WoM intention

Y. Zhou et al. / Journal of Business Research 67 (2014) 159166

165

Appendix A
Scenarios for service separation.
Separated service

Non-separated service

You will be taking an important English exam this term. You would like to attend a
training program for this exam and thus consult ABC company, which is famous for
providing this kind of English training program.
After seeing some types of English training programs in this company, you choose an
online program. The following is some information about your program:

You will be taking an important English exam this term. You would like to attend a
training program for this exam and thus consult ABC company, which is famous for
providing this kind of English training program.
After seeing some types of English training programs in this company, you choose an
in-class program. The following is some information about your program:

(1) Online English training program for XX exam

This program is a long-distance English training service. You can take your
courses according to your own schedule and do not need to go to the company.
You have the right to choose the teacher who is right for this program.

(1) In-class English training program for XX exam

This program is a one-by-one English training service. You can go to the
company and attend the courses there per your appointment schedule. You
have the right to choose the teacher who is right for this program.

(2) Instruments for this program

1. You will get an account with password which is assigned by our company
through which to receive your materials for this program;
2. You can log on software to learn using this account and password according to
your own schedule;
3. After logging on, you can click the button video of courses and notes of
courses to obtain your materials. These are the uploaded webcast and notes
of the English training program, which are assigned by the teacher you choose.
You can leave a message for the teacher if you have questions about your
courses. The teacher will solve your problems patiently throughout this
program.
Today, you are preparing for a course as usual. However, you cannot download
your material for this lesson because of an unknown login failure. You ask the
company the reason for this problem, but no one there knows. You feel very
angry. You think that it is not reasonable that an unknown login failure denies
you access to today's course. Thus, you complain to the manager of the
company.

(2) Instruments for this program

1. You will get a classroom which is assigned by our company to attend your
courses;
2. You can take courses using this room per your appointment schedule;
3. In this period of time, the teacher you choose will provide you with courses
and hand you the notes of the English training program. You can ask question
directly to the teacher if you have questions about your courses. The teacher
will solve your problems patiently throughout this program.
Today, you are preparing for a course as usual. However, you cannot have class
for this lesson because other person is occupying the classroom. You ask the
company the reason for this problem, but no one there knows. You feel very
angry. You think that it is not reasonable that an unknown occupy failure
denies you access to today's course. Thus, you complain to the manager of
the company.

Appendix B
Scenarios for resolution.
Immediate resolution

Delaying resolution

(This experiment manipulates 30 min as a delaying response. During the 30 min,

Now, the manager of the company attempts to solve the problem as
follows: offers a free makeup course for this lesson with an additional free participants complete a learning task, the content of which is unrelated to our
research.) Imagine the time you have waited for a resolution after your complaint.
online course.
Now, the manager of the company attempts to solve the problem as follows: offers
a free makeup course for this lesson with an additional free online course.
(This experiment manipulates 30 min as a delaying response. During the 30 min,
Non-separated Now, the manager of the company attempts to solve the problem as
service
follows: offers a free makeup course for this lesson with an additional free participants complete a learning task, the content of which is unrelated to our
research.) Imagine the time you have waited in the company for a resolution after
in-class course.
your complaint. Now, the manager of the company attempts to solve the problem
as follows: offers a free makeup course for this lesson with an additional free
in-class course.
Separated
service

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