International Journal of Commerce and Management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effect of the difference between the consumer's expectation and perception of service quality on post-purchase behavior intentions, and the effect of the consumer's personality traits and the enterprise's service recovery strategy as intervening variables on post-purchase behavior intentions of consumers.

Design/methodology/approach – A sampling survey is carried out among customers of the top ten banking industries in Taiwan. A convenient sampling survey is carried out among customers of the top ten banks. A total of 243 effective samples are returned.

Findings – The result shows that the smaller the difference between expectation and perception of service quality is, the more the consumers will show their loyalty in post-purchase behavior; the bigger the difference between expectation and perception of service quality is, the more the customers will make complaints and convert to other brands. When the difference is bigger between customer expectation and perception of service quality, the personality trait of external control orientation may prevail over the personality trait of internal control orientation.

Research limitations/implications – Intangible service is the core product of banks, but it is easily copied by competitors. Therefore, creation of brand image and improvement of goodwill are important for the establishment of uniqueness and distinguishability of a bank.

Practical implications – Service recovery is one of the major factors that influence the sequential actions of consumers. Service quality does not directly influence the sequential attitude and behavior of consumers; other intervening variables that exert direct influence exist.

Originality/value – This paper fulfils an identified information need and offers practical help to the service industry.