Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.5392/IJoC.2012.8.3.071

Analyzing Service Failure Themes on Online Healthcare Product: Focusing on Online Consumers' Word-of-mouse  

Oh, Su-Jin (Dept. of Consumer Economics, Sookmyung Women's University)
Publication Information
International Journal of Contents / v.8, no.3, 2012 , pp. 71-78 More about this Journal
Abstract
The emergence of the Internet has provided a new outlet for consumers who experience service failure from products and services, augmenting the traditional options of entry, voice and action. Consumers' negative word of mouth through online (word-of-mouse or eWOM) far exceeds traditional word of mouth (WOM) in respect of its potential effectiveness, speed and spread. This paper tries to figure out the service failure themes in the health care industry by analyzing online word-of-mouse using the critical incidents technique (CIT). Complaint themes in the area of healthcare are identified and analyzed. The results identify that major complaint theme differed according to the site type. Also, the findings indicate that delivery and customer services are critical issues when consumer makes negative WOM.
Keywords
Service Failure; Consumers' complaint; Online word-of-mouth (word of mouse or eWOM); Healthcare industry;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 H. Estelami, "Competitive and Procedural Determinants of Delight and Disappointment in Consumer Complaint Outcomes," Journal of Service Research, vol. 2, no. 3, 2000, pp. 285-300.   DOI
2 G. Eysenbach, J. Powell, O. Kuss, and E. Sa, "Empirical Studies Assessing the Quality of Health Information for Consumers on the World Wide Web", JAMA, vol. 287, no. 20, 2002, pp. 2691-2700.   DOI   ScienceOn
3 J. C. Flanagan, "The Critical Incident Techniques," Psychological Bulletin, vol. 51, July, 1954, pp. 327-358.   DOI   ScienceOn
4 S. Fox, Health topics. Pew Internet & American Life Project: Online Life Report, 2011.
5 S. Fox, The social life of health information. Pew Internet & American Life Project: Online Life Report, 2011.
6 M. Gabbott, and G. Hogg, "The Glory of Stories: Using Critical Incidents to Understand Service Evaluation in the Primary Healthcare Context," Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 12, no. 6, 1996, pp. 493-503.   DOI
7 D. Godes, and D. Mayzlin, "Using Online Conversations to Study Word-of-mouth Communication", Marketing Science, vol. 23, Fall, 2004, pp. 545-560.   DOI   ScienceOn
8 D. D. Gremler, "The Critical Incident Techniques in Service Research," Journal of Service Research, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, pp. 65-89.   DOI
9 C. Gronroos, (1988), "Service Quality: The Six Criteria of Good Perceived Service Quality," Review of Business, vol. 9, Winter, 1988, pp. 10-13.
10 L. J. Harrison-Walker, "E-complaining: A Content Analysis of an Internet Complaint Forum," The Journal of Service Marketing, vol. 15, no. 4/5, 2001, pp. 397-412.   DOI   ScienceOn
11 M. J., Bitner, B. H. Booms, and M. S. Tetreault, "The Service Encounter: Diagnosing Favorable and Unfavorable Incidents," Journal of Marketing, vol. 54, January, 1990, pp. 71-84.   DOI   ScienceOn
12 P. H. Bloch, D. L. Sherrell, and N. M. Ridgway, "Consumer Search: An Extended Framework", Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 13, June, 1986, pp. 119-126.   DOI   ScienceOn
13 J. J. Brown, and P. H. Reingen, "Social Ties and Wordof- mouth Referral Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 14, December, 1987, pp. 350-362.   DOI   ScienceOn
14 J. G. Blodgett, D. H. Granbois, G. Rockney and R. G. Walters, "The Effects of Perceived Justice on Complainants' Negative Word-of-Mouth Behavior and Repatronage Intentions," Journal of Retailing, vol. 69, no. 4, 1993, pp. 399-428.   DOI   ScienceOn
15 J. G. Blodgett, D. J. Hill, and S. S. Tax, S.S. "The Effects of Distributive, Procedural, and Interactional Justice on Postcomplaint Behavior," Journal of Retailing, vol. 73, no. 2, 1997, pp. 185-210.   DOI   ScienceOn
16 P. F. Bone, "Word-of-mouth Effects on Short-term and Long-term Product Judgments," Journal of Business Research, vol. 32, no. 3, 1995, pp. 213-223.   DOI   ScienceOn
17 Y. Cho, I. Im, and R. Hiltz, "The Impact of E-service Failure and Customer Complaints on Electronic Commerce Customer Relationship Management," Journal of Consumer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, vol. 16, 2003, pp. 106-118.
18 R. J. W. Cline, and K. M. Haynes, "Consumer Health Information Seeking on the Internet: The State of the Art," Health Education Research, vol. 16, no. 6, 2001, pp. 671-692.   DOI   ScienceOn
19 R. L. Day, and E. L. Jr. Landon, Towards a Theory of Consumer Complaining Behavior, in Woodside, A., Sheth, J. and Bennett, P. (Eds), Consumer and Industrial Buying Behavior, North Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1977.
20 T. W. Andreassen, "Antecedents to Satisfaction with Service Recovery," European Journal of Marketing, vol. 34, no. 1/2, 2000, pp. 156-175.   DOI   ScienceOn
21 A. A. Bailey, "Thiscompanysucks.com: The Use of the Internet in Negative Consumer-to-consumer Articulations," Journal of Marketing Communications, vol. 10, September, 2004, pp. 169-182.   DOI   ScienceOn
22 R. L. Oliver, "A Cognitive Model of the Antecedence and Consequences of Satisfaction Decisions," Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 17, September, 1980, pp. 46-49.
23 D. E. Murfin, B. S. Bado, and A. Diamantopoulos, A. "Perceived Service Quality and Medical Outcome: An Interdisciplinary Review and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 11, 1995, pp. 97-117.   DOI
24 K. B. Murray, "A Test of Services Marketing Theory: Consumer Information Acquisition Activities," Journal of Marketing, vol. 55, no. 1, 1991, pp. 10-25.   DOI   ScienceOn
25 V. A. Nasir, "E-consumer Complaints about On-line Stores," Journal of Consumer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, vol. 17, 2004, pp. 68-87.
26 A. Parasuraman, V. A. Zeithaml, and L. L. Berry, "A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and its Implications for Future Research," Journal of Marketing, vol. 49, Fall, 1985, pp. 41-50.
27 M. L. Richins, "Negative Word-of-mouth by Dissatisfied Consumers: A Pilot Study," Journal of Marketing, vol. 47, no. 1, 1983, pp. 68-78.
28 P. B. Salgaonkar, and N. M. Reader, "Patient as a Source of Recommendation and its Influence on Another Patient's Royalty to the Physician: An Exploratory Empirical Study," Journal of Consumer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, vol. 17, 2004, pp. 16-26.
29 J. Singh, "Consumer Complaint Intentions and Behavior: Definitional and Taxonomical Issues," Journal of Marketing, vol. 52, 1988. pp. 93-107.   DOI   ScienceOn
30 J. Singh, "Voice, Exit and Negative Word-of-mouth Behaviors: An Investigation across Three Service Categories," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 18, no. 1, 1990a, pp. 1-15.   DOI
31 J. Singh, A Typology of Consumer Dissatisfaction Response Style," Journal of Retailing, vol. 66, no. 1, 1990b, pp. 57-97.
32 J. M. Hogarth, M. English, and M. Sharma, "Consumer Complaints and Third Parties: Determinants of Consumer Satisfaction with Complaint Resolution Efforts," Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and complaining Behavior, vol. 14, 2001, pp. 74-87.
33 B. B. Holloway, and S. E. Beatty, "Service Failure in Online Retailing: A Recovery Opportunity," Journal of Service Research, vol. 6, no. 1, 2003, pp. 92-105.   DOI
34 E. Katz, and P. H. Lazarsfeld, Personal Influence, Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1955.
35 S. W. Kelly, K. D. Hoffman, and M. A. Davis, "A Typology of Retail Failures and Recoveries," Journal of Retailing, vol. 69, Winter, 1993, pp. 429-452.   DOI   ScienceOn
36 P. Kim, T. R. Eng, M. J. Deering, and A. Maxfield, "Published Criteria for Evaluating Health Related Web Sites: Review," BMJ, vol. 318, 1999, pp. 647-649.
37 J. Kolodinsky, "Complaints, Redress, and Subsequent Purchases of Medical Services by Dissatisfied Consumers," Journal of Consumer Policy, vol. 16, no. 2, 1993, pp. 193-214.   DOI
38 W. G. Mangold, F. Miller, and G. R. Brockway, "Wordof-mouth Communication in the Service Marketplace," The Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 13, no. 1, 1999, pp. 73-89.   DOI   ScienceOn
39 A. S. Mattila, and J. Wirtz, "Consumer Complaining to Firms: The Determinants of Channel Choice," The Journal of Service Marketing, vol. 18, no. 2, 2004, pp. 147-155.   DOI   ScienceOn
40 J. G. Ш Maxham, and R. G. Netemeyer, "Modeling Customer Perceptions of Complaint Handling over Time: The Effects of Perceived Justice on Satisfaction and Intent," Journal of Retailing, vol. 78, 2002, pp. 239-252.   DOI   ScienceOn
41 M. A. McCollough, L. L. Berry, and M. S. Yadav, "An Empirical Investigation of Customer Satisfaction after Service Failure and Recovery," Journal of Service Research, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, pp. 121-137.   DOI
42 R. A. Westbrook, Product/consumption-based Affective Responses and Postpurchase Process," Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 24, no. 3, 1987, pp. 258-270.   DOI   ScienceOn
43 R. A. Spreng, G. D. Harrell, and R. D. Mackoy, "Service Recovery: Impact on Satisfaction and Intentions," The Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 9, no. 1, 1995, pp. 15-23.   DOI   ScienceOn
44 J. E. Stafford, J. "Effects of Group Influence on Consumer Brand Preferences," Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 3, no. 1, 1966, pp. 68-75.   DOI   ScienceOn
45 B. Stauss, and C. Friege "Regaining Service Customers," Journal of Service Research, vol. 1, May, 1999, pp. 347-61.   DOI
46 S. S. Tax, and S. W. Brown, "Recovering and Learning from Service Failure," Sloan Management Review, vol. 39, Fall, 1998, pp. 75-88.
47 M. Venkatesan, "Experimental Study of Consumer Behavior, Conformity and Independence," Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 3, no. 4, 1966, pp. 384-387.   DOI   ScienceOn
48 W. R. Wilson, and R. A. Peterson, "Some Limits on the Potency of Word-of-mouth Information," Advances in Consumer Research, vol. 16, 1989, pp. 23-29.