Does successful recovery mitigate failure severity?

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine the role of level of failure severity and recovery efforts in customer response behavior. Specifically, the paper investigates how severity of failure influence the relationship between recovery efforts and outcome variables of recovery disconfirmation, satisfaction, loyalty and negative word‐of‐mouth. Design/methodology/approach A 2×2 between subjects experimental design was carried out. Written scenarios were used to manipulate the level of severity and recovery efforts. Responses were collected from 103 participants on pre‐validated scale measures. Findings The results of the study yield significant findings of impact of failure severity and recovery effort on dependent variables in the Indian context. The findings indicate significant interaction effects on satisfaction, loyalty and negative word‐of‐mouth. Originality/value Prior studies on failure and recovery have mostly kept failure constant even though the magnitude of failure can range from low to high. This study examines the effect of level of failure severity and recovery efforts in customer response behavior. Further, this study extends prior research in recovery by investigating the variables of interest in the eastern cultural context such as India.