The role of service guarantees in contemporary foodservice encounters

Drawing on the role congruity theory, this research revisits a common service practice–service guarantee’s effectiveness in contemporary foodservice encounters across different customer-company relationships (communal vs. exchange) and delivery modes (touch vs. tech) in two service failure settings (Study 1–catering service and Study 2–food ordering/delivery service). The research shows that a service guarantee does not effectively enhance customers’ post-failure satisfaction in a communal relationship. Conversely, in an exchange relation, its presence significantly enhances customers’ post-failure satisfaction following a touch service failure. The research further investigates the underlying process driving such satisfaction through serial mediation effects. Specifically, when customers face a touch service failure in an exchange relation, the presence of a service guarantee enhances perceived competence of the service provider and expected service quality, thus reducing perceived risk, which in turn, has a positive impact on customers’ post-failure satisfaction. The current research contributes to the classic service guarantee literature with novel insights and provides industry practitioners guidelines regarding how to employ service guarantees as an effective service recovery strategy.