Factors influencing consumer forgiveness: a systematic literature review and directions for future research

Yungchul Kim, Ting Hin Ho, Lay Peng Tan*, Riza Casidy

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose – Consumer forgiveness is an important concept in service failure and recovery research. To advance knowledge and develop future research agenda in this domain, this paper provides a systematic review of the literature on factors influencing consumer forgiveness while adopting the customer journey perspective.

Design/methodology/approach – Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted of 102 peer-reviewed journal articles, on factors influencing consumer forgiveness, published between January 2000 and December 2020.

Findings – The authors’ analysis offers a detailed account of the factors influencing consumer forgiveness across the three stages of the service journey: pre-transgression, transgression and recovery. From the review, the authors identified significant gaps relating to the interactions between the relevant factors influencing forgiveness throughout the various stages of the consumer service journey. Based on the findings, the authors offer several research questions to help managers optimize customer forgiveness following a service failure throughout each stage of consumer service journey.

Originality/value – The authors’ review synthesizes the literature on factors contributing to consumer forgiveness and integrates these factors into the customer service journey. The authors’ findings inform directions for future research and provide insights regarding the measures that service providers should take to understand and encourage consumer forgiveness.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)601-628
Number of pages28
JournalJournal of Service Theory and Practice
Volume33
Issue number5
Early online date12 Jul 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Aug 2023

Keywords

  • Consumer forgiveness
  • Customer service journey
  • Service failure
  • Service recovery
  • Systematic literature review

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