Self-Service Technology Recovery: The Effect of Recovery Initiation and Locus of Responsibility

Failures of self-service technologies (SSTs) are commonplace, yet empirical investigations into effective SST recovery methods are still few and far between. This research investigates two important elements of SST recovery using three experimental studies, namely recovery initiation and locus of responsibility. Studies 1 and 2 reveal that employee-initiated recovery (vs. customer-initiated recovery) leads to higher repurchase intentions when the SST failure is due to a technological error, but customer-initiated recovery leads to better results when the failure is due to a customer error. Further investigation into the underlying mechanism indicates that recovery disconfirmation mediates the process. Study 3 shows that when employees are not around the service area, SST-initiated recovery enhances purchase intentions after the technological failures of SSTs. This research provides important managerial and theoretical implications for service and technology management.