Recovery Paradox and Double Deviation: Literature Review and Propositions Development

Service recovery satisfaction has been extensively studied in the service marketing literature, and two distinctive phenomena have been identified as important strands of research interests: the recovery paradox (RP) and the double deviation (DD). The RP and DD are essentially symmetrical as both imply that the customer's evaluation toward an encounter involving a failure and a recovery is most determined by the recovery effort rather than the initial failure, while the RP is a positive effect caused by a superior recovery but the DD is a negative consequence of an inferior recovery. However, very few studies conceptualized them in a comparable pattern; furthermore, although many studies tried to examine the existence of the RP or DD, seldom research focused on justifying why they would occur. Thus, this research aims to uncover the potential asymmetry between the RP and DD by performing an intensive literature review, and then to provide preliminary remedies. To begin with, this research proposes reconceptualizations for the RP and DD which would better reflect their symmetrical nature. Second, a framework of negative-discrepancy-induced sensitivity and related propositions are developed to justify why the RP and DD would occur, that is, why the effect of recovery is heavier than that of failure. Directions for further research are provided in the final section.