The Influence of Service Failure, Service Recovery, and Customer Forgiveness on Customer Loyalty: A Case Study of the Omnichannel Marketing Restaurants in the Lower Northern Provincial Cluster 1 of Thailand
Main Article Content
Abstract
This research investigates the direct and indirect influences of service failure, service recovery, and customer forgiveness on customer loyalty in omnichannel marketing restaurants within the Lower Northern Provincial Cluster 1 of Thailand. The study employs a quantitative approach, utilizing data from 731 customers and analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings reveal that service failure directly impacts customer loyalty and service recovery, while service recovery, in turn, positively affects both customer loyalty and forgiveness. Furthermore, customer forgiveness has a significant direct influence on customer loyalty. Notably, service recovery and customer forgiveness function as mediators in this relationship, highlighting the complex dynamics at play. The hypothesized model demonstrates a good fit, with key indices including Chi-square = 233.449 and RMSEA = 0.032.
This study contributes to theoretical understanding by elucidating the causal relationships among the variables involved. Additionally, it offers practical insights for restaurant management, emphasizing the importance of effective service recovery strategies in an evolving technological landscape. By focusing on these aspects, restaurants can enhance customer loyalty, ultimately supporting sustainable business growth.
Article Details

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Ailawadi, K. L. and Farris, P. W. (2017). Managing multi-and omni-channel distribution: metrics and research directions. Journal of Retailing, 93(1), 120-135.
Andreasen, N. C. (2001). Brave new brain: conquering mental illness in the era of the genome. New York: Oxford University Press.
Andreassen, T. W. (2001). From disgust to delight: Do customers hold a grudge?. Journal of Service Research, 4(1), 39-49.
Akamavi, R. K., Mohamed E, Pellmann, K. and Xu, Y. (2015). Key determinants of passenger loyalty in the low-cost airline business. Tourism Management, 46, 528-545.
Akarsu, T. N., Marvi R. and Foroudi, P. (2023). Service failure research in the hospitality and tourism industry: a synopsis of past, present and future dynamics from 2001 to 2020. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 35(1), 186-217.
Asadi, S., Abdullah, R. and Jusoh, Y. Y. (September 5-6, 2019). An Integrated SEM-Neural Network for Predicting and Understanding the Determining Factor for Institutional Repositories Adoption. In Intelligent Systems and Applications: Proceedings of the 2019 Intelligent Systems Conference (IntelliSys) (pp. 513-532). London: Springer.
Azemi, Y., Ozuem, W., Howell, K. E. and Lancaster, G. (2019). An exploration into the practice of online service failure and recovery strategies in the Balkans. Journal of Business Research, 94, 420-431.
Bell, C. R. and Ridge, K. (1992). Service for recovery trainers. Training and Development, 46(5), 58-63.
Bell, C. R. and Zemke, R. E. (1987), Service breakdown: The road to recovery. Management Review, 76(10), 32-35.
Beverland, M. B., Kates, S. M., Lindgreen, A. and Chung, E. (2010). Exploring consumer conflict management in service encounters. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38, 617-633.
Byrne, R. W. and Russon, A. E. (1998). Learning by imitation: A hierarchical approach. Behavioral and brain sciences, 21(5), 667-684.
Buttle, F. and Burton, J. (2002). Does service failure influence customer loyalty?. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 1(3), 217-227.
Casado, B. L., van Vulpen, K. S. and Davis, S. L. (2011). Unmet needs for home and community-based services among frail older Americans and their caregivers. Journal of Aging and Health, 23(3), 529-530.
Campo, K. and Breugelmans, E. (2015). Buying groceries in brick and click stores: Category allocation decisions and the moderating effect of online buying experience. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 31(1), 63-78.
Chahal, H. and Devi, P., (2014). Consumer attitude towards service failure and recovery in higher education. Quality assurance in education, 23(1), 67-85.
Cheng, B. L., Gan, C. C., Imrie, B.C. and Mansori, S. (2019). Service recovery, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty: evidence from Malaysia’s hotel industry. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 11(2), 187-203.
Chou, P. F. (2015). An analysis of the relationship between service failure, service recovery and loyalty for low-cost carrier travelers. Journal of Air Transport Management, 47, 119-125.
Cottle, D. (1990). Client-centred service. Chichester: Wiley.
Davidow, M. (2000). The bottom line impact of organizational responses to customer complaints. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 24(4), 473–490.
Diamantopoulos, A. and Siguaw, J. A. (2000). Introducing LISREL. London: Sage Publications.
Dick, A. and Basu, K. (1994). Customer loyalty: Toward an integrated conceptual framework. Journal of the academy of marketing science, 22(2), 99-113.
Dorsey, J. D., Ashley, C. and Oliver, J. D. (2016). Triggers and outcomes of customer-to-customer aisle rage. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 32, 67-77.
Eichhorn, J. (2014). The (Non-) Effect of Unemployment Benefits: Variations in the Effect of Unemployment on Life-Satisfaction Between EU Countries. Social Indicators Research, 119, 389-404.
Elbaz, A. M., Soliman, M., Al-Alawi, A., Al-Romeedy, B. S. and Mekawy, M. (2022). Customer responses to airline companies’ service failure and recovery strategies: The moderating role of service failure habit. Tourism Review, 78(1), 1-17.
Elvandari, C. D. R., Sukartiko, A. C. and Nugrahini, A. D. (2018). Identification of technical requirement for improving quality of local online food delivery service in Yogyakarta. Journal of Industrial and Information Technology in Agriculture, 1(2), 1-7.
Fehr, R. and Gelfand, M. J. (2010). When apologies work: how matching apology components to victims’ self-construals facilitates forgiveness. Organ. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 113 (1), 37–50.
Fornell, C. and Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50.
Fornell, C. and Wernerfelt, B. (1987). Defensive marketing strategy by customer complaint management: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 24(4), 337-346.
Gelbrich, K. and Roschk, H. (2011). A meta-analysis of organizational complaint handling and customer responses. Journal of Service research, 14(1), 24–43.
Ha, J. and Jang, S. S. (2009). Perceived justice in service recovery and behavioral intentions: The role of relationship quality. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(3), 319-327.
Hair, E., Halle, T., Terry-Humen, E., Lavelle, B. and Calkins, J. (2006). Children's school readiness in the ECLS-K: Predictions to academic, health, and social outcomes in first grade. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21(4), 431-454.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J. and Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis (7th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Hair, J. J. F., Sarstedt, M., Hopkins, L. and G. Kuppelwieser, V. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): An emerging tool in business research. European Business Review, 26(2), 106-121.
Hodgins, H.S. and Liebeskind, E. (2003). Apology versus defense: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of experimental social psychology, 39(4), 297–316.
Hornik, J., Satchi, R. S., Cesareo, L. and Pastore, A. (2015). Information dissemination via electronic word-of-mouth: Good news travels fast, bad news travels faster. Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 273-280.
Hu, L. T. and Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1-55.
Hui, M. K. and Au, K. (2001). Justice perceptions of complaint-handling: A cross-cultural comparison between PRC and Canadian customers. Journal of Business Research, 52, 161–173.
Istanbulluoglu, D. (2017). Complaint handling on social media: The impact of multiple response times on consumer satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 74, 72-82.
Kim, T., Kim, W.G. and Kim, H.-B. (2009). The effects of perceived justice on recovery satisfaction, trust, word-of-mouth, and revisit intention in upscale hotels. Tourism Management, 30(1), 51-62.
Kim, J. H. and Jang, S. (2016). Factors affecting memorability of service failures: a longitudinal analysis. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(8), 1676-1701.
Laili, I., Sumiati. and Sudjatno. (2022). The effect of service failure on customer loyalty through customer forgiveness and service recovery as mediation variables: A study on go-car in Surabaya. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, 11(4), 23-29.
Lin, H., Wang, J. and Wu, C. (2011). Liquidity risk and expected corporate bond returns. Journal of Financial Economics, 99(3), 628-650.
Ma, K., Zhong, X. and Hou, G. (2020). Gaining satisfaction: the role of brand equity orientation and failure in service recovery. European Journal of Marketing, 54(10), 2317-2342.
Muhammad, L. and Rana, G. E. (2019). Do service firm employee and customer relations matter for customer forgiveness in service recovery?. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 31(4), 1216-1232.
Nikbin, D., Ismail, I., Marimuthu, M. and Salarzehi, H. (2012). The relationship of service failure attributions, service recovery justice and recovery satisfaction in the context of airlines. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 12(3), 232-254.
Ohbuchi, K., Kameda, M. and Agarie, N. (1989). Apology as aggression control: its role in mediating appraisal of and response to harm. Journal of personality and social psychology, 56(2), 219–227.
Oliver, R. L. (1980). A cognitive model of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions. Journal of Marketing Research, 17(4), 460-469.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. M., Lee, J. and Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method variance in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879-903.
Kaur, M. and Kang, S. (2016). Market Basket Analysis: Identify the changing trends of market data using association rule mining. Procedia Computer Science, 85, 78-85.
Rosenmayer, A., McQuilken, L., Robertson, N. and Ogden, S. (2018). Omni-channel servicefailure and recoveries: Refined typologies using Facebook complaints. Journal of Service Marketing, 32(3), 269-285.
Salagrama, R. and Prashar, S. (2021). Examining the influence of forgiveness and its antecedents on consumer behavior: the moderating role of service failure severity. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 18(10), 3973-3994.
Schreiber, J. B., Nora, A., Stage, F. K., Barlow, E. A. and King, J. (2006). Reporting Structural Equation Modeling and Confirmatory Factor Analysis Results: A Review. Journal of Educational Research, 99, 323-338.
Shin, H., Ellinger, A. E., Mothersbaugh, D. L. and Reynolds, K. E. (2017). Employing proactive interaction for service failure prevention to improve customer service experiences. Managing Service Quality, 27(1), 164-186.
Silpcharu, T. (2017). Statistical research and analysis with SPSS and AMOS (15th ed.). Bangkok: Business R&D.
Tabachnick, B. G. and Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using Multivariate Statistics (5th ed.). New York: Allyn and Bacon.
Tax, S. S. and Brown, S. W. (2000). Service recovery: Research insights and practices. In T. Swartz, & D. Iacobucci (Eds.). Handbook of services marketing and management (pp.271–286). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Tsarenko, Y. and Rooslani Tojib, D. (2011). A transactional model of forgiveness in the service failure context: A customer-driven approach. Journal of Services Marketing, 25(5), 381-392.
Venkatesan, R., Kumar, V. and Ravishanker, N. (2007). Multichannel Shopping: Causes and Consequences. Journal of Marketing, 71(2), 114-132.
Harrison-Walker, L. J. (2019). The effect of consumer emotions on outcome behaviors following service failure. Journal of Service Marketing, 33(3), 285-302.
Walster, E., Berscheid, E. and Walster, G. W. (1973). New directions in equity research. Journal of personality and social psychology, 25(2), 151.
Wang, J., Ma, Y., Zhang, L., Gao, R. X. and Wu, D. (2018). Deep learning for smart manufacturing: Methods and Application. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 48, 144-156.
Wheaton, B., Muthen, B., Alwin, D. F. and Summers, G. (1977). Assessing Reliability and Stability in Panel Models. Sociological Methodology, 8, 84-136.
Wollenburg, J., Hübner, A., Kuhn, H. and Trautrims, A. (2018). From bricks-and-mortar to bricks- and-clicks: Logistics networks in omni channel grocery retailing. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 48(4), 415-438.
Worthington, E. L. and Scherer, M. (2004). Forgiveness is an emotion-focused coping strategy that can reduce health risks and promote health resilience: Theory, review, and hypotheses. Psychology & Health, 19(3), 385-405.
Yagil, D. and Luria, G. (2016). Customer forgiveness of unsatisfactory service: manifestations and antecedents. Service Business, 10(3), 557–579.
Yao, T., Qiu, Q. and Wei, Y. (2019). Retaining hotel employees as internal customers: effect of organizational commitment on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of employees. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 76, 1-8.
Ye, H. and Luo, Y. (2016). The Research on the Impact of Service Failure Severity on Customer Service Failure Attribution in the Network Shopping. In Proceedings of the Wuhan International Conference on E-Business (WHICEB) (pp.483–490). China: Association for Information Systems AIS Electronic Library (AISeL).
Yudi, A. and Ruswanti, E. (2021). Freight forwarding company: The effect of service failure, recovery, satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Jurnal Manajemen Teori dan Terapan, 14(2), 179-193.
Zhu, Z. Nakata, C., Sivakumar, K. and Grewal, D. (2013). Fix it or leave it? Customer recovery from self-service technology failures. Journal of Retailing, 89(1), 15-29.