The role of trust in attributing service experiences

Abstract

The study investigates the role of trust in customer service attributions. Using two experiments based on scenarios of having a haircut and visiting a restaurant, data are collected for analyzing how perceived trust to the service provider impact the ways that customers attribute their service experiences. A field survey has also been designed to test the robustness the findings of the two experiments in real service setting. The findings of the studies support the effect of trust on customer service attributions. Compared to low trust customers, high trust customers are more likely to attribute negative service experiences to external, uncontrollable, and unstable factors, and attribute positive service experiences to internal, controllable, and stable causes.