Abstract: Service research has contributed to our understanding of the externally-directed emotions that customers experience, such as anger. However, there is limited knowledge about the self-directed emotions that customers experience, such as shame and guilt. This knowledge is specifically lacking within the context of failure of co-created products and services. Our mixed-method research delineates the self-directed emotions that arise when co-created products and services fail. We found that failure of co-created products differ from general situations of failure in that externally-directed emotions attain latency and customers experience self-directed emotions such as guilt, shame, and self-pity. We also found that the self-directed emotions are driven by (a), sadness, and (b), the nature of the causal attributions that the customers ascribe to the failure. This effect was moderated by the degree of co-creation. After analyzing our findings, we discuss the theoretical and practical relevance of the study.

Authors’ Names: Praveen Sugathan, Kumar Rakesh Ranjan & Avinash G.Mulky

Journal Name: Journal of Business Research

Publication Details: Volume 78, September 2017, Pages 43-52

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296317301443