Prior Experience Satisfaction and Subsequent Fairness Perceptions Within the Service Experience

ABSTRACT Past service encounters provide powerful information about the future intentions of customers. This study examines 302 recalled customer service encounters and measures the differences in fairness perceptions of the service encounter outcome between new customers and previous customers, and then between customers with previous positive experiences and between customers with previous negative experiences. A significant difference existed between customers with previous positive experiences and those customers with previous negative experiences. Each group reported similar outcomes with their next visit, which leads towards a tendency of repeat performances for the business. The power of understanding the past experiences of the customer is valuable to service researchers and practitioners in understanding the importance of the perception the customer leaves with. It can govern the expectations the customers have as well as help predict the next experience the customer has with the business and influence what they tell others about the business.