The Moderating Role of Service Failure Magnitude Perceptions in Influencing the Impact of Caregiver Dissatisfaction on their Desire for Revenge and Negative WOM

This research examines managers’, employees’ and caregivers’ perceptions of the magnitude of the service failure in a context of non-profit organizations catering to people with mental disabilities. Building upon the social exchange, equity and prospect theory, we hypothesize that the gaps in the magnitude of the service failure play a moderating role on the negative effects of caregiver dissatisfaction and their desire for revenge and negative WOM behaviour. A group of 118 managers, 937 contact employees and 876 caregivers were surveyed. Hierarchical regression analyses support our hypotheses. Theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed.