Service recovery and satisfaction: The moderating role of religiosity - Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research - page 537

and re-patronage intentions (Wen & Chi, 2013).
Ha and Jang (2009) claimed that an effective serv-
ice recovery will transform upset customers to be
satisfied which can promote long term relationship.
Therefore, the following proposition is derived
from the aforementioned discussion:
P1:Service recovery will influence recovery
satisfaction.

that interactional justice concerns with the human
interactions during service recovery. Based on both
definitions, we summarized interactional justice as
the treatment and communication process involved
during service recovery process. Extant studies
claimed that interactional justice can influence
customers' judgment towards company's recovery
effort. A study in banking and home construction
industries shows that interactional justice influence
customer satisfaction (Maxham III & Netemeyer,
2002). In addition, a study in airline industry by
Chang and Chang (2010) also found that interac-
tional justice affects recovery satisfaction. Based
on the preceding discussion, the following proposi-
tion is developed:
P1c: Interactional justice will influence recovery
satisfaction.

2.4.1 Distributive justice
Wen and Chi (2013) described distributive justice
as the outcome that the customer expects to receive
during service recovery and it should be equal to
the customer's loss. In specific, Weun, Beatty, and
Jones (2004) defined distributive justice as the
tangible end result given to the initially frustrated
customer. Typical end results include a discount,
cash refund, replacement, and amendment (Wen &
Chi, 2013). Prasongsukarn and Patterson (2012)
claimed that distributive justice was found to affect
recovery satisfaction in multi industry settings
such as retail, hospitality and auto repair. These
findings proved that monetary rewards are impor-
tant to satisfy upset customers (Ha & Jang, 2009).
Therefore, based on the preceding discussion, the
following proposition is developed:
P1a: Distributive justice will influence recovery
satisfaction.

2.5 The role of religiosity
In recent years, there is an emerging concern
pertaining to religiosity in global market (Swim-
berghe, et al., 2009). A number of issues pertaining
to religiosity are still impending given the fact that
this area is still maturing (Tsarenko & Tojib, 2012).
According to Worthington et al. (2003), religiosity
(also called as religious commitment) is defined as
the degree to which an individual obey to their reli-
gious belief and practice it in daily life.
Religious people is claimed to be more honest,
fair and nice compared to people without religious
orientation (Morgan, 1983). In service failure con-
text, Tsarenko and Tojib (2012) argued that highly
religious individual tend to be more forgiving com-
pared to less religious individual. Therefore, it is
expected that being religious will influence the
manner an individual behave when service failure
occurs. As a result, it may affect their level of sat-
isfaction and future re-patronage intentions. This
is supported by Swimberghe et al. (2009) claiming
that further research is required to examine the
buying behavior of high and low religious people.
This is due to the notion that dissatisfied customers
may perform one of the following behaviors: stop
buying from the company; share negative word
of mouth with others; and complain to the busi-
ness owner or third party. The emerging trend of
religious awareness in the global market evidenced
that it is critical to further explore this area, specifi-
cally in service failure perspective. Therefore, the
following proposition is developed:
P2: Religiosity will moderate the relationship
between service recovery and recovery satisfaction.
P2a: Religiosity will moderate the relation-
ship between distributive justice and recovery
satisfaction.

2.4.2 Procedural justice
Procedural justice concerns with the procedures,
policies, processes and rules involved in service
recovery (Smith, et al., 1999). However, del Río-
Lanza, Vázquez-Casielles, and Díaz-Martín (2009)
argued that procedural justice deals with aspects
such as accessibility, speed, process control, delay
and flexibility in dealing with service failure. Based
on both definitions, we defined procedural jus-
tice as the policies and procedures that will help
to solve customer's problem in timely manner.
Previous research demonstrated that procedural
justice can influence recovery satisfaction. Studies
in airline industry by Nikbin smail, Marimuthu,
and Salarzehi (2012) and Chang and Chang (2010)
indicated that procedural justice influences recov-
ery satisfaction. Therefore, the following proposi-
tion is derived based on the previous discussion:
P1b: Procedural justice will influence recovery
satisfaction.

2.4.3 Interactional justice
Interactional justice refers to the customers' per-
ception regarding the way they are treated during
the service recovery process which includes respect,
caring, honesty and willingness to help (Wen & Chi,
2013). Sparks and McColl-Kennedy (2001) argued