Does a surprise strategy need words? The effect of explanations for a surprise strategy on customer delight and expectations

Abstract

Purpose

Delighting customers by pleasant surprises is a common strategy, yet the potential downside of such a strategy (i.e. raising customer expectations) has received scant attention. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of explanations as a solution to control customers ' expectations following a surprise-delight event.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses were tested with a 2 (surprise)×2 (explanation) between-subjects experimental design in two different service contexts (utilitarian and hedonic). University staff and faculty members served as the participant pool.

Findings

The results indicate that providing an explanation helps to avoid raising customer expectations to unsustainable levels and enhances customer delight.

Research limitations/implications

Using hypothetical scenarios, single test for each context, and having the participants with high educational and income levels are identified as limitations in this study.

Practical implications

This study demonstrates that providing appropriate explanations can reduce escalating expectations for future consumption episodes and thus help service firms to effectively delight their customers.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical study to test the use of explanation as a possible solution for problems associated with surprise strategies, therefore extending the relevant literature.

Citation

Gyung Kim, M. and S. Mattila, A. (2013), "Does a surprise strategy need words? The effect of explanations for a surprise strategy on customer delight and expectations", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 5, pp. 361-370. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-01-2012-0008