Abstract

Service recovery is the actions taken by a service provider with the intention of changing customers' negative impressions on the service to positive ones. The current study reviewed factors to consider when sending an apology email to customers who had bad or unsatisfactory service experiences. Among perceptual factors, pictures, tables, graphs, logos, and bright colors were shown to have positive effects when put in the email. Cultural differences in effective perceptual factors were also examined. Among cognitive factors, the power of contents and monetary rewards were identified as important factors. The results suggest that these factors may have the same effects when used in apology made through other types of media, such as letter, webpage, or SNS. Implications and suggestions are also discussed.