Analyzing the relationship between perceived justice and satisfaction after service failures: a case study in a telecom company

Abstract

The zero defect is something virtually unachievable in service operations, which makes the ability of companies to effectively manage customer complaints derived from service failures an important condition for its success in the long term. This article evaluates the influence of justice perceptions in customer satisfaction after a complaints management process. The case of a cell phone company is analyzed in which a survey with 496 customers who complained to the firm’s call center was applied. Customers’ justice perceptions and its relationship with satisfaction after the procedure were evaluated. The results obtained with a logistic regression analysis indicated that perceptions of procedural and distributive justice influenced significantly satisfaction, while the interpersonal justice, despite having had the high individual mean, didn’t showed any significant relationship with this construct. Some important reflections are made based on these results, considering that many elements of justice poorly evaluated had great influence on the final satisfaction, which indicated the need for the company to review its priorities in terms of processes evaluation and employee training.