Service Failures and How the Perception of Justice Affects the Level of Satisfaction
Purpose: The market for sports nutrition, vitamins and supplements is rapidly growing especially online. This study focuses on ways to explore service failures and service recovery strategies of students buying online sports nutrition products and supplements during the COIVD-19 crisis. The objective of this study is to contribute to the research in the field of service marketing and develop and understand how a customer evaluate the respond of an online sports nutrition and supplements retailer to a service failure and how the perception of justice affects the level of satisfaction. Design/Methodology/Approach: The goal is met through an extensive literature review and the implementation of practical research. With 155 completed responses from students from eight different universities in CEE and SEE a web-based survey was conducted. Findings: There a strong evidence of a relationship between a higher effort of the customer and writing a negative online review. Online retailers putting (very) much effort into the situation are not confronted with shoppers writing either a negative or a review in general. Practical Implications: This research argues for strengthening customer service and a high involvement of customer service managers. Originality Value: This is a first paper which has analysed the service failures during the Covid-19 crisis.