Consumer Responses to Service Failure

Abstract

This research draws on acculturation theory to identify potential differences in Chinese Americans’ reaction to a service failure based on their acculturation level, in this case, among those who have lived in the United States for at least five years. Rather than compare consumer differences in Western cultures versus Asian cultures, this study examined the responses of 451 Chinese American participants to a service failure based on three acculturation modes, namely, integration, assimilation, and separation. The test included two different hotel brand types (Asian and Western) and service staff with two different ethnicities (Chinese and American). Respondents’ acculturation status influenced their reaction to the service failure, as measured by their ratings for face, satisfaction, and repeat purchase intentions at both property and chain levels, and the three acculturation groups’ ratings generally interacted with the employee’s ethnicity. Brand type, on the other hand, had no effect at all. Of particular note is the continued importance of face for Chinese Americans who follow a separation strategy, as compared with its diminished influence for those who are integrating or assimilating with the main culture. This article is based on a paper presented at the 2013 Quality in Service Conference (QUIS 13) in Karlstad, Sweden.

Keywords

acculturation service failure hotel brands ethnicity Chinese consumer behavior

Ethnic consumer segments in multicultural societies such as the United States and Australia are reportedly growing in importance due to their increasing size and purchasing power, as well as their geographical concentration (A. M. Chan 2006; Huang, Oppewal, and Movando 2013; Pires and Stanton 2005). One of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States are people of Chinese extraction, with a growth rate of 33.3 percent between 2000 and 2009 (U.S. Census Bureau 2012). According to a 2011 study by the University of Maryland, Chinese Americans account for 3.64 million (1.2%) of the U.S. population, making them the largest ethnic group among Asian Americans. This ethnic group has higher median household incomes, per capita incomes, and mean wage and salary earnings than the general population, and their spending power and tendencies toward brand loyalty make them an attractive target segment for marketers (e.g., Bent, Seaman, and Emslie 2007). Given those statistics, Chinese Americans are arguably an important ethnic group.

Numerous studies have investigated the impact of culture on consumer perceptions and behavior following service failures and subsequent recovery. These studies, however, have either focused on an Eastern culture (e.g., Hoare, Butcher, and O’Brien 2011; Y. L. Lee and Sparks 2007; Y. L. Lee, Sparks, and Butcher 2013) or on a comparison of an Eastern and a Western culture (e.g., Suh et al. 2013; Wang and Mattila 2011). What is missing in these approaches is research on potential differences in reactions to service failures and recovery strategies by customers who have spent their formative years in one culture but have lived for extended periods in another culture, that is, the effect of acculturation has not been studied. That is despite growing globalization producing a consumer base high in cultural diversity that makes culture in general and acculturation in particular, a critical consideration when managing customer relationships (Becker, 2000). We wanted to test the effects of acculturation in an unfortunately common situation, a hospitality service failure, examining it through the lens of the Chinese American experience.

Drawing on social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner 1979), acculturation theory (Berry 1980), and self-congruity theory (Sirgy 1982; Sirgy, Grewal, and Tamara 2000), this study aims to provide insights into the impact of different acculturation strategies adopted by ethnic Chinese who were either born in the United States or migrated to it, a distinction that we argue forms the basis for differences in perceptions and behavior following a service failure. As we explain in the following section, the study rests on the following theoretical bases: acculturation theory, social identity theory, and self-congruity theory. Having established the theoretical base, we will explain our experimental procedure (with particular attention to sample selection), detail our findings, and outline the implications.

Literature Review

Acculturation Theory

Drawing upon a long history in social and behavioral sciences (Berry 1997), Redfield, Linton, and Herskovits (1936, 149) advanced the classic definition of acculturation: “those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups.” Of particular relevance to acculturation are the dimensions of cultural maintenance (the extent to which cultural identity and characteristics are considered to be important, and the effort made to maintain them) and contact and participation (to what extent should they become involved in other cultural groups, or remain primarily among themselves). Based on the various combinations of these two key dimensions, four distinct acculturation strategies proposed by Berry (1980) are commonly identified. They are as follows:

Assimilation, whereby individuals do not wish to maintain their original cultural identity and seek daily interactions with the host culture;

Separation, which refers to a strategy whereby individuals place value and aim to hold on to their original culture, and at the same time avoid interaction with the host culture;

Integration, which focuses on changes to the host culture. If individuals have an interest in both maintaining their original culture, while seeking daily interactions with the host culture, they are said to adopt an integration strategy; and

Marginalization, which refers to a situation where there is either little possibility or interest in maintaining one’s original culture while at the same time displaying little interest in or having the possibility to interact with and participate in the host culture.

The first three of these acculturation strategies are of interest to this study. Numerous studies have focused on acculturation of Chinese consumers in the United States (e.g., Kaufman-Scarborough 2000; Ownbey and Horridge 1997), Canada (e.g., Chen et al. 2005; Chia and Costigan 2006), and Australia (e.g., Quester and Chong 2001; Quester, Karunaratna, and Chong 2001). Acculturation has also been considered in dining-out behavior of Chinese immigrants in the United States and Koreans in Canada (Bojanic and Xu 2006; Rajagopal et al. 2009; Yang 2010), restaurant selection of Korean Americans versus U.S. natives (Magnini 2010), and travel behavior of Korean immigrants in Australia (S. H. Lee and Cox 2007). These studies found that the extent of acculturation resulted in significant behavioral differences among respondents, but none of these studies examined the effect of acculturation in the context of a service failure. Based on the implications of those previous studies, we hypothesize that

Hypothesis 1: There are significant differences in perceptions and behavioral responses to a service failure among individuals adopting different acculturation strategies.

Social Identity Theory

Formulated by Tajfel and Turner (1979), social identity theory is based on people’s affiliation with groups, either formal or informal, with its key premise being that individuals to a varying extent define themselves through groups to which they belong. In this regard, the group provides a framework within which individuals can construct their social identity. Social identity involves defining oneself in terms of various social categories, whereas by contrast, a personal identity is concerned with the categorization of oneself based on specific traits and characteristics.

Central to establishing a social identity is social categorization, which is a process that involves segmenting, classifying, and ordering the social environment. Primarily cognitive in nature, social categorization is influenced by values, cultures, and social representations. As a part of social identity, social categorization provides individuals with a frame for self-reference so that a social group’s characteristics come to represent a dimension of a person’s social identity (Hogg and Abrams 1988).

Two major prerequisites, identity salience and identity strength, must be satisfied for a social identity such as Chinese ethnicity to affect a person’s judgments. Research indicates that a person becomes aware of and identifies with many social categories as part of the socialization process (Deaux 1995). Similarly, Stryker (1980) argued that the self should be regarded as a multifaceted, organized construct that reflects numerous roles in differentiated networks of interaction. In any given situation, individuals have a variety of social categories that can potentially become part of their self-concept (Stryker and Burke 2000). For example, a woman may concurrently be a parent, a Chinese, a marathon runner, a Garth Brooks fan, and a Mandarin Oriental employee. However, she may draw on only some of these identities as part of her social identity, with the key determinant being the extent to which a social category becomes an activated or salient conceptual structure. Once a social identity (e.g., Chinese ethnicity) is salient, it will activate attitudes and behavior consistent with that identity, and individuals display a heightened sensitivity to identity-relevant stimuli.

Social identity salience depends on accessibility of social self-categories (Oakes 1987; Oakes, Haslam, and Turner 1994), which relates to the relative importance of a group membership to individuals’ self-definition and determines their readiness to use a particular self-category. This in turn is established by the strength of identification. This construct is related to yet distinct from salience. Strength of identification refers to an enduring association between an individual’s sense of self and his or her identity, whereas salience is concerned with the momentary activation of a particular social identity (Forehand, Deshpandé, and Reed 2002). Studies have shown that in an ethnically mixed society, such as the United States, an individual’s identity as a member of an ethnic subgroup becomes more salient when that group is a minority (Deshpande and Stayman 1994; McGuire et al. 1978). Furthermore, when group identity salience increases, an individual is more susceptible to influence by in-group members (e.g., Forehand and Deshpandé 2001), further increasing the likelihood of in-group favoritism (Tajfel 1982).

Self-Congruity Theory

Advanced by Sirgy (1982), self-congruity theory is based on a person’s self-concept that denotes “the totality of the individual’s thoughts and feelings having reference to himself as an object” (Rosenberg 1979, 7). According to Grubb and Grathwohl (1967), that self-concept is formed in an interaction process between an individual and others, whereby an individual will strive for self-enhancement in the interaction process. Research has investigated various forms of self-congruity, including self-organization congruence, self-environment, and self-brand congruity, with consumer behavior literature pointing to positive effects on customers’ brand preferences, their purchase intentions, and their satisfaction levels (Ericksen 1996; Jamal 2004; Jamal and Goode 2001; Mehta 1999), while also facilitating positive behavior and attitudes toward brands (Ericksen 1996; Sirgy 1982; Sirgy et al. 1997, 1991).

Of particular interest to this study is person–place congruity (Morrin and Chebat 2005), whereby the evaluation of self-congruity involves a process of matching dimensions of a consumer’s self-concept with the image projected by the service setting. Expanding on the servicescape framework advanced by Bitner (1992) and by Tombs and McColl-Kennedy (2003), Rosenbaum and Montoya (2007) referred to this type of congruity as place identity (Proshanksy 1978; Proshansky, Fabian, and Kaminoff 1983), defined as the congruence between a consumer’s self-identity and a consumption setting. In this view, ethnic consumers evaluate their place identity by assessing the ethnicity of employees and customers, as well as employees’ and customers’ verbal and non-verbal cues. For the purpose of our study, we focus on employees and explore the effect of a shared ethnicity, or lack thereof, between the customer and the service employee in connection with a service failure.

Self-Employee Congruity and Shared Ethnicity

Jamal and Adelowore (2008) lamented the lack of studies that explored the effects of congruence between customers and front line service employees. In their study on banking customers in Nigeria, they found that customer–employee congruence is an important antecedent of personal interaction, relationship satisfaction, and loyalty to employees, each of which is, in turn, positively linked to customer satisfaction. More recently, Montoya and Briggs (2013) found particularly strong effects of shared ethnicity in encounters involving employees and customers from traditionally collectivist subcultures who are minorities in their country of residence (in this case, Hispanics and Asians in the United States), as they more strongly identify with their ethnic groups than do their individualist, majority counterparts. In a follow-up study, those authors demonstrated that Hispanic customers who shared contact with Hispanic employees had greater expectations of enhanced service, status, respect, and feelings of comfort and love, as well as preferential treatment (e.g., free products and monetary discounts) than those who met non-Hispanic employees. This finding is in line with social identity theory (Tajfel 1982; Tajfel and Turner 1979), which predicts that individuals will favor in-group members over others and are motivated to enhance their group association by allocating a disproportionate amount of resources to in-group members, rather than others (e.g., Hewstone, Rubin, and Willis 2002). Yet while numerous studies have examined the potential positive impacts of shared ethnicity of a customer and a service employee, no study to date has examined the effect of a situation where a customer is discriminated against and experiences a service failure at the hands of an employee of a shared ethnicity. With those studies in mind, we hypothesize that

Hypothesis 2a: There are significant differences in perceptions and behavioral responses to a service failure among individuals depending on whether the service failure involves a staff of the same ethnicity as the customer’s.

Hypothesis 2b: There are significant differences in perceptions and behavioral responses to a service failure among individuals adopting different acculturation strategies, depending on whether the service failure involves a staff of the same ethnicity as the customer’s.

Self-Brand Congruity

We see one other element that may influence the interaction we are testing and that is the hotel brand. Studies have shown that ethnic consumers infer the congruity between themselves and a brand using social cues, such as employees’ ethnicity and behavior (Rosenbaum and Montoya 2007), and physical cues, such as objects and artifacts (Rosenbaum 2005). Huang, Oppewal, and Movando (2013), for example, found that Chinese Australian consumers viewed a particular travel agency as more attractive when the presence of ethnic-related attributes contributed to a higher level of perceived compatibility between the consumers and the agency.

A hotel brand’s country of origin and its corporate identity can also significantly affect consumers’ perceptions of service quality (e.g., Zhou, Murray, and Zhang 2002). Several studies noted that quality perceptions are more positive when products or services originate from an industrialized country rather than a less developed country (see, for example, Iyer and Kalita 1997; Kaynak, Kucukemiroglu, and Hyder 2000). Researchers have also identified a tendency to favor indigenous services over foreign ones, possibly due to national pride (Verlegh 2007). With regard to hospitality firms, a number of brands originating in Asia, particularly upscale ones, have created a strong corporate identity that has become associated with superior service, with many of them routinely topping lists of the world’s best. This applies to hotel chains (e.g., Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La, Aman Resorts), airlines (e.g., Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific), and airports (e.g., Changi in Singapore, Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong). However, we have neither seen studies of the potential effects of brand origin and corporate identity on consumers’ reactions in connection with a service failure nor on the effect of ethnic customers’ acculturation strategies on their perception of a service failure. In this context, we hypothesize the following:

Hypothesis 3a: There are significant differences in perceptions and behavioral responses to a service failure among individuals, depending on whether the service failure takes place in a hotel whose brand originated from the customer’s culture of origin.

Hypothesis 3b: There are significant differences in perceptions and behavioral responses to a service failure among individuals adopting different acculturation strategies, depending on whether the service failure takes place in a hotel whose brand originated from the customer’s culture of origin.

Method

Design

As we explain below, our study employed a scenario-based, 2 × 2 × 3 between-subject factorial design in an online survey. We tested two hotel brand conditions, Asian and the United States; two staff ethnicity conditions, Chinese and Western; and three acculturation conditions: separation, integration, and assimilation. We asked our respondents to consider a scenario that we developed based on comments obtained in focus groups of Chinese travelers that we conducted in Beijing in 2011 (Weber, Hsu, and Sparks 2011).

Stimulus Material

We first screened survey respondents to ensure that effects of acculturation could be measured (removing respondents on a short-term student visa, or who had only relatively recently moved to the United States). To raise salience of respondents’ ethnic identity, we posed questions relating to the extent of their belief in Chinese and American values and their self-identification as Americans, Chinese, or Chinese Americans.

In presenting the scenario, we asked respondents to imagine themselves as an aggrieved customer. The scenario’s service failure involved a guest staying in a luxury hotel who experienced subtle discrimination, while European guests were given preferential treatment. The hotel failed to fulfill a reservation request for an important family dinner at a specific restaurant, leading to the need to make last-minute alternative arrangements, without an appropriate service recovery. The four scenarios were identical except for the representation of the two independent variables, that is, the ethnicity of the staff member and the hotel brand’s country of origin. A copy of the sample scenario, including the manipulations of the two independent variables, is included in the appendix.

The instrument was extensively pre-tested to ensure that (1) the scenario was believable and easily understood and (2) the manipulations for the two independent variables performed as intended. We pre-tested the survey over a period of five months with 155 respondents using both online and paper versions, with particular emphasis on obtaining feedback on the script, the manipulations, the various scales, and any additional feedback for the revision process. Based on these pre-tests, the instruments were modified and tested again, until we determined that the manipulations performed as intended and the scenario was believable. We presented the final instrument in both English and Chinese (ensuring equivalency with the back-translation method), and respondents chose the language they preferred for the questionnaire. All but a few respondents completed the questionnaire in English (95.8%).

Independent Variables

The manipulation of hotel brand occurred in the introduction to the script and later in the opening of the scenario. The introduction referred to the origin of the hotel brand, as follows: “The hotel is part of a hotel chain managed by an Asian [or, a U.S.] hotel management company that prides itself on maintaining corporate values that align with its origins in Asia [or, the U.S.]” Reference was made to specific design elements of the hotel, alluding to its Asian or U.S. origins, as appropriate. Our hotel brand reference was “Asian” rather than “Chinese” because well-known, upmarket Asian brands have greater presence in the United States than do Chinese hotel brands. For the staff ethnicity variable, the scenario made mention of the hotel staff member’s ethnicity, and he was repeatedly identified by a surname that was common for his ethnicity: “Mr. Zhang” for the Chinese staff member, and “Mr. Smith” for Western employee.

Although acculturation represented the third independent variable, we measured it rather than try to manipulate it. To capture respondents’ adopted acculturation strategy, we developed a composite of three measures that provided insights into the extent to which respondents wanted to retain identification with their culture of origin and the extent to which they wanted to conform to the host culture. The first measure, adapted from Suinn, Ahuna, and Khoo (1992), comprised two questions, measured on a 7-point Likert-type scale, which ascertained the degree to which respondents believed in Chinese or American values. The second measure was adapted from Suinn et al.’s measure of self-identification, corresponding to the three acculturation strategies of interest (i.e., separation, integration, and assimilation). Finally, for acculturation, we drew on Lerman, Maldonado, and Luna’s (2009) acculturation scale that posed ten questions relating to media usage, language spoken in different contexts, ethnicity of friends, and holidays observed. Exhibit 1 details the various acculturation measures.

Exhibit 1:

Acculturation, Face, Satisfaction and Repeat Purchase Intention Measures.

Acculturation composite

1. Belief in Chinese/American values—two items

Please rate yourself on how much you believe in Chinese values (e.g., about marriage, families, education, work) by selecting the
appropriate number.

Do not believe in Chinese values/strongly believe in Chinese values

Please rate yourself on how much you believe in American values by selecting the appropriate number.

Do not believe in American values/strongly believe in American values

2. Self-identification—one item

1. I consider myself basically a Chinese person—Even though I live and work in the United States, I still view myself basically as a
Chinese.

2. I consider myself basically as an American—Even though I have a Chinese background and characteristics, I still view myself
basically as an American.

3. I consider myself as a Chinese American, although deep down I always know I am a Chinese.

4. I consider myself as a Chinese American, although deep down, I view myself as an American first.

5. I consider myself as a Chinese American. I have both Chinese and American characteristics, and I view myself as a blend of both.

3. Behavioral measures—ten items

What language do you use when you speak with your brothers and sisters?

What language do you use when you speak with your closest friends?

What kind of websites do you visit?

What kind of TV programs do you watch?

What kind of newspapers and magazines do you read?

In what language do you pray?

In what language are the jokes with which you are familiar?

What is the ethnic background of your closest friends?

When you go to social functions such as parties, dances, picnics, or sports events, what is the ethnic background of the people
that you tend to go with?

What types of national or cultural holidays (such as Fourth of July and Lunar New Year) do you typically celebrate?

Face measures—six items

The action of hotel staff showed they cared about me as a customer at this hotel.

Hotel staff showed me proper “li” (“礼” courtesy) when dealing with me.

The treatment of hotel staff made me feel valued as a customer.

The way I was treated at this hotel made me look respectable to others.

The services I received at this hotel “gave me face”

I felt that hotel staff made sure that I did not “lose face” when dealing with me.

Satisfaction—four items

If this service experience had happened to me, I would feel

- extremely displeased with this hotel.

- that this hotel did an extremely good job.

- extremely unhappy with this hotel.

- extremely satisfied with this hotel.

Repeat purchase intentions at property level—three items

If this service experience had happened to me, I would

- never stay at this hotel again.

- still stay at this hotel in the future.

- still consider this hotel as my first choice.

Repeat purchase intentions at hotel chain level—three items

If this service experience had happened to me, I would

- still stay at this hotel chain in the future.

- never stay at this hotel chain again.

- still consider this hotel chain as my first choice.

Dependent Variables

Of particular relevance in our study is the concept of face, or “mianzi.” Although an element of this respect-based concept exists in Western culture, it is a central cultural value for Chinese society and linked to one’s status and position in society (Hu 1944; Jia 2001). Several studies found face to be particularly important in service encounters (e.g., H. Chan and Wan 2008; Hoare and Butcher 2008; Y. L. Lee and Sparks 2007; Y. L. Lee, Sparks and Butcher 2013), and a loss of face occurs when service providers fail to recognize guests’ importance and do not accord them due respect or honor (Fox 2008, Kipnis 1995; Seligman 1999). Thus, it can be seen that the service scenario contains the seeds of loss of face. In short, and in line with Y. L. Lee, Sparks, and Butcher (2013), face is considered a person’s social recognition that is gained or lost in social interactions, is self-assessed, situationally dependent, and flows from the manner in which a person is treated or the outcomes received. Adopted from Y. L. Lee, Sparks, and Butcher (2013), face was measured on a 7-point scale, using six items that are detailed in Exhibit 1.

In keeping with similar studies, we measured satisfaction, repeat purchase intentions with the hotel property, and repeat purchase intentions with the hotel chain as dependent variables, using multiple-item scales. All measures required a response on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). The four satisfaction items were adapted from Oliver and Swan (1989) and the seven repeat purchase intention measures came from Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1996).

Sample and Procedure

Our sample comprised 451 Chinese Americans who had resided in the United States for at least five years. To ensure sample size and screening, we engaged a professional research firm to conduct an online survey. Our sample target was 550 completed responses of Chinese Americans within a one-month period (December 2012 to January 2013), drawn randomly from a panel of Chinese consumers residing in the United States. The survey firm sent an e-mail to the panel explaining the purpose of the study, together with a link to the URL for the survey site. Respondents received a small incentive to complete the questionnaire. To ensure that the three acculturation strategies of interest were evenly represented, we asked the research firm to program the instrument in such a way that quotas for the three acculturation strategies could be filled, and we also specified a balanced representation in terms of gender and age. Respondents were randomly allocated to one of the four scenarios, resulting in an even distribution of respondents across scenarios.

Results

Although we received 550 responses, we deleted thirty-five cases after preliminary data screening (Hair et al., 2009) because these respondents had selected only one response category for the majority of questions, and thereby provided logically inconsistent answers. We also deleted another fifty-two cases based on manipulation checks, which we describe below, and twelve more cases representing respondents who had adopted a marginalization strategy. This screening gave us the final sample of 451 respondents. Our measurements resulted in the following acculturation groups: separation strategy, 165 respondents; assimilation strategy, 115; and integration strategy, 171.

Sample Profile

As specified, the sample was equally divided in terms of gender, with the majority of respondents (56.2%) in the twenty-six- to fifty-five-year age range. Approximately,60 percent of respondents had obtained an undergraduate degree, with a further 25 percent having earned a postgraduate degree, consistent with the high education levels among Chinese Americans in general (University of Maryland and National Council of Chinese Americans [NCCA] 2011). Approximately 60 percent of respondents had been born in the United States. Of those who had immigrated to the United States, about 40 percent arrived in the 1990s and 30 percent since 2000.

Scale Reliabilities

Summated scales were formed for five measures: (1) acculturation, (2) face, (3) satisfaction, (4) repeat purchase intentions at the hotel property level, and (5) repeat purchase intentions at the hotel chain level. Prior to calculating reliability coefficients using Cronbach’s alpha, we reverse-coded items as required. The reliability of each of the scales exceeded the conventional minimum of .70 (Nunnally 1978), with reliability coefficients ranging from .71 to .96.

Realism and Manipulation Checks

To make sure that study participants were able to imagine themselves in the role of the customer, we included four measures assessing the scenarios’ realism (Willson and McNamara 1982). As shown in Exhibit 2, respondents found the service experience believable and likely to occur, felt that they had encountered such staff as depicted in the script, and could identify with the customer.

Exhibit 2:

Realism and Manipulation Checks.

Realism Check Items	M	SD
I think a service experience like this does occur in hotels in real life.	5.51	1.38
1 believe there are employees who behave like this in hotels.	5.64	1.19
1 felt I could identify with the customer in this scenario.	5.22	1.30
The scenario about the service experience in the hotel is believable.	5.54	1.17

Note. All variables were measured on a 7-point scale with a value of 1 indicating strong disagreement and a value of 7 indicating strong agreement.
Manipulation Checks
	Hotel Brand
Scenario	Asian (%)	United States (%)
1. Asian hotel brand	81.4	19.0
2. Asian hotel brand	58.8	41.2
3. U.S. hotel brand	6.6	93.4
4. U.S. hotel brand	28.9	71.1
χ² = 140.3, df = 3, p =.000

	Staff Ethnicity
Scenario	Chinese (%)	Western (%)
1. Chinese staff	93.3	6.7
2. Western staff	17.6	82.4
3. Western staff	10.4	89.6
4. Chinese staff	76.0	24.0
χ² = 228, df = 3, p = .000

The effectiveness of the hotel brand manipulation was ascertained with the following question: “The hotel described in the scenario was part of a hotel chain managed by (1) an Asian hotel management company (2) a U.S. hotel management company,” while that of staff ethnicity was established with the question, “The employee in the scenarios is of (1) Chinese origin (2) Western origin.” Our assessment of these manipulation checks confirmed that the manipulations for hotel brand and staff ethnicity were generally successful, although the hotel brand manipulation results for scenario 2 required further analysis.

Consumer Evaluations and Behavior

As we said at the outset of this section, we conducted a 2 × 2 × 3 multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) using two hotel brand factors, two staff ethnicity factors, and three acculturation factors to examine differences in face, satisfaction, and repeat purchase intentions.

As we describe below, no main effects were observed for either hotel brand or staff ethnicity. Results revealed a significant main effect for acculturation that was further qualified by an interaction effect between acculturation and staff ethnicity. Significant multivariate statistics and univariate results are presented in Exhibit 3. The Bonferroni correction factor, used at the univariate level, and resulting in a new alpha level of p < .0125, was applied to reduce the chance of a Type I error. Simple effects and simple contrasts were conducted at the .05 level.

Exhibit 3:

Summary of Significant MANOVA Results.

	Multivariate			Univariate
Source	F	p	η_p²	F	p	η_p²
Main effects
Acculturation	7.41	.000	.063
Face				26.03	.000*	.106
Satisfaction				14.31	.000*	.061
Repeat visit—hotel property				7.29	.001*	.032
Repeat visit—hotel chain				5.98	.003*	.027
Interaction effects
Acculturation × Staff ethnicity	2.16	.028	.019
Repeat visit—hotel property				3.28	.038	.015
Repeat visit—hotel chain				6.82	.001*	.030

Note. MANOVA = Multivariate Analysis of Variance.

Significant with the application of the Bonferroni correction p < .0125.

Main Effect

Univariate results showed that acculturation had a significant effect on face, satisfaction, and repeat purchase intentions at both property and chain levels, F (8, 874) = 7.41, p < .001, partial η² = .063. An inspection of the mean scores indicated that the four dependent variables were highest for the 165 respondents adopting a separation strategy, while the lowest ratings were returned by the 115 respondents adopting an assimilation strategy. The specific scores were as follows (with separation scores first, integration second, and assimilation third): face, M_S/I/A = 3.99/3.15/2.62; satisfaction, M_S/I/A = 3.26/2.72/2.58; repeat purchase intentions (hotel), M_S/I/A = 3.41/2.94/2.86; and repeat purchase intentions (chain), M_S/I/A = 3.63/3.19/3.16. Post hoc tests indicated significant differences between respondents adopting a separation strategy and those using either an assimilation or integration strategy, but we found no significant differences between respondents adopting an assimilation or integration strategy.

Interaction Effect

A significant two-way interaction was observed for acculturation and staff ethnicity, F (8, 874) = 2.16, p < .05, partial η² = .019. Univariate results showed a significant effect on repeat purchase intentions at the hotel chain level. The means for this variable for the three acculturation strategies are shown in Exhibit 4, and the interaction effect is graphically displayed in Exhibit 5.

Exhibit 4:

Descriptives for Repeat Visit—Hotel Property/Chain-Acculturation × Staff Ethnicity.

	Chinese Staff		Western Staff
	M	SD	M	SD
Repeat visit—hotel property
Separation	3.32	1.47	3.51	1.32
Integration	3.16	1.33	2.74	1.33
Assimilation	2.67	1.32	3.04	1.30
Repeat visit—hotel chain
Separation	3.56	1.41	3.71	1.25
Integration	3.50	1.15	2.91	1.31
Assimilation	2.92	1.27	3.41	1.25

Exhibit 5:

Hotel Chain Repeat Purchase Ratings by Acculturation and Staff Ethnicity.

The three acculturation groups had different reactions to the scenario, as indicated by repeat purchase intentions at the hotel chain level. For respondents adopting a separation strategy, the ethnicity of the staff had no significant effect on repeat purchase intention ratings at the chain level. By contrast, respondents adopting an integration strategy expressed significantly higher repeat purchase intentions at the chain level if the scenario involved the Chinese staff member (t = 3.1, p < .001). For respondents adopting an assimilation strategy, the staffer’s ethnicity had the opposite effect. Their repeat purchase intentions at the chain level (t = 2.1, p < 0.5) displayed higher ratings when the scenario involved “Mr. Smith” rather than “Mr. Zhang.”

The three acculturation groups also showed substantial differences in repeat purchase intentions at the hotel chain level, even when holding the employees’ ethnicity constant, based on simple effects tests, F (2, 224) = 4.869 p < .01. When the employee was Chinese, we found a significant difference in ratings between respondents adopting a separation strategy and those with an assimilation strategy (p < .05) and also between respondents adopting an integration strategy and those with an assimilation strategy (p < .05). Again, ratings were highest for respondents adopting a separation strategy while they were lowest for respondents adopting an assimilation strategy. We also found significant variations in chain-level repeat purchase intentions when the service failure involved the Western staff member, F (2, 225) = 8.47, p < .001. Post hoc analysis indicated a significant difference in ratings between respondents adopting a separation strategy versus those adopting an integration strategy (p < .001) and also between respondents adopting an integration approach versus those with an assimilation strategy (p < .001). Respondents adopting a separation strategy again provided the highest ratings, but this time, respondents adopting an integration strategy returned the lowest ratings.

Discussion

Acculturation Main Effect

As we reported above, respondents with a separation strategy indicated the highest ratings on all dependent variables. These individuals place value on and try to retain their original culture. Face is a central concept here, and face is naturally perceived as important in a service failure situation. People adopting a separation strategy also tend to avoid interaction with the host culture. One visible result of such a strategy is the formation of Chinatowns across the United States in the past and the present concentration of Chinese residents in various urban areas (University of Maryland and National Council of Chinese Americans 2011). These individuals live in a familiar environment and perform their daily consumption activities within a close-knit community. Our survey did not provide specific reasons for respondents’ ratings, but we believe that consumers in this category may be more forgiving of service failures and decide to return to the same provider even though their satisfaction ratings are not particularly high. It may also be that the limited interaction and exposure with the outside world means that their tolerance of service failures may be higher due to unfamiliarity of the environment and the service provider. This is also in line with suggestions by Goto, Gee, and Takeuchi (2002) and Ying (1996), who argued that less acculturated individuals may be less likely to be cognizant or aware of subtleties that constitute discrimination.

In contrast to the separation contingent, those using an assimilation strategy reported the lowest ratings for all four dependent variables, but those ratings were not statistically different from those of the integration group. As people of Chinese descent seek daily interactions and assimilate or integrate with the host culture, their value orientation and consumer responses could deviate from those who are separated from the mainstream host culture. This is especially apparent for the assimilation group, whose members are not focused on maintaining their original cultural identity. In particular, the low ratings of the face variable are supported by our pre-test finding that many U.S.-born or young immigrant respondents had limited understanding of the face concept. They specifically asked for an explanation of the questions relating to face, which led to further revisions of the instrument to include a brief definition. The effort by integrators and assimilators who live as ethnic minorities in the United States to try to adopt the American culture is itself a challenge. Thus, when they are placed in a scenario where they feel discriminated against by a service provider, potentially based on their ethnicity, their responses are understandably more negative compared to those who live in their own culture bubble and neither integrate nor assimilate.

Interestingly, we note that the mean ratings of satisfaction and repeat visit intentions of the separation group are clustered around the midpoint of the seven-point scale. Again, we have no data from our survey on the reason, but considering that modesty and conservatism are valued in Chinese culture, respondents may not have expressed extreme opinions, even when they were unhappy. Such a situation would influence the ratings of this group in particular. These tendencies have also been noted by several other authors (e.g., Harzing et al. 2012). Conversely, the satisfaction and repeat visit ratings of the integration and assimilation groups could be indicative of their learned “freedom of speech” American value.

Acculturation × Staff Ethnicity Interaction Effect

We noted the significantly higher repeat visit ratings by integrators when the service employee is Chinese rather than Western. Considering that integrators possess both Chinese and U.S. cultural values and understand both cultures, they may have greater understanding for people attempting to fit into the mainstream society, just like themselves, and thus possess greater empathy for Chinese staff. On the other hand, they may feel more discriminated against by Western staff as they have integrated into society, or thought that they did so, and yet continue to be treated differently.

Repeat visit intentions at the hotel chain level are significantly higher when assimilators are served by a Western employee. With an assimilation strategy, these individuals do not wish to retain their Chinese values and would like to see themselves as “real Americans.” The strong desire to fit in more with U.S. values may have made them more forgiving of “Mr. Smith.” On the other hand, the desire to part from Chinese values may have caused them to be more critical of “Mr. Zhang.”

Regardless of whether the scenario included “Mr. Zhang” or “Mr. Smith,” ratings by the separation group did not indicate significant differences in terms of their intention to return, although the means are slightly higher when served by Western staff compared to Chinese staff. The slight difference may be explained by the findings from our focus groups (Weber, Hsu, and Sparks 2011) that Western employees may not understand and are not expected to understand Chinese values, behaviors, and needs, but Chinese employees should. Therefore, Chinese consumers are more forgiving when the service failure involves a Western employee.

In reviewing the means in Exhibit 4, when a Chinese employee is involved in the service scenario, assimilators reported the lowest intention to return to the brand. This corresponds to the explanation provided earlier that these individuals do not wish to maintain their original cultural identity and would, thus, likely want to distance themselves from anything Chinese, including Chinese service personnel. However, the extent to which the low ratings are caused by the service failure versus the ethnicity of the employee warrants further investigation. On the other hand, when a Western employee is involved, integrators reported the lowest repeat visit intention for the brand. Considering that integrators understand and have characteristics of both cultures, they may feel that discrimination is unacceptable.

Lack of Main Effect for Origin of Hotel Brand and Staff Ethnicity and Lack of Interaction Effect—Acculturation × Origin of Hotel Brand

Perceptive readers will have noticed that we have said little about the effects of brand origin. This is because we found no effect of brand origin on any of the dependent variables, whether by itself (main effect) or in combination with acculturation (interaction effect). Thus, in a service failure situation, brand origin does not appear to serve a function in Chinese American consumers’ satisfaction, return intention, or assessment of face issues, regardless of their acculturation strategy adopted.

This is in part supported by Hsu’s (2014) finding that Mainland Chinese travelers had similar brand performance ratings, including brand choice intention and brand loyalty, and satisfaction levels for Chinese and international hotel brands. As more Asian hotel brands expand into the United States, it may be reassuring to know that consumers hold similar expectations for these brands as they do with any other Western brands.

Furthermore, staff ethnicity alone does not influence respondents’ evaluation of face, satisfaction, or return intentions. While we have detailed the interaction effect with regard to intent to return, staff ethnicity has no effect on face and satisfaction even in combination with acculturation. We suspect that face and satisfaction involve such personal issues that external contextual factors may not be significant enough to change their perception. Thus, although hotels may hire employees of a particular ethnic origin to better serve customers of that ethnicity, their mere presence will not automatically increase feelings of face or customer satisfaction. On the contrary, Western staffers should be aware that face is still important to many of their Chinese customers. Thus, in addition to customer-satisfaction-related training, as hotel guests diversify, cultural training for all employees is needed.

Conclusion and Future Research Directions

This article presents the first study to examine the impact of consumer acculturation, and the study results showed that the extent of acculturation did have significant effects on Chinese American consumers’ perceptions and behaviors following a service failure. Thus, a key implication is that marketers should realize that Chinese Americans do not represent a homogeneous market. Future studies should seek to establish potential differences in the expectations of the Mainland Chinese and Chinese Americans.

Our scenario depicted a meager service recovery effort at best, and considering that acculturation clearly influences guests’ reactions to service failure and recovery, we conclude that hotels should choose front line personnel carefully to ensure not only the provision of superior service but also particularly the successful handling of inevitable service failures. Thus, not only culture-specific training but intra-culture-specific training is necessary to ensure that the nuanced differences among Chinese American consumers and Mainland Chinese consumers can be properly addressed.

A chief limitation of this study is that it was based on an online scenario. Considering that the way respondents feel and respond to simulations or scenarios may not necessarily reflect responses to actual situations (Blodgett et al. 1997), future studies may explore respondents’ reactions to actual service failures. The influence of demographics such as age, gender, and education on perceptions and behavior may also be considered. Since this study’s focus involved responses to a service failure, future studies may explore whether Chinese Americans who have acculturated in different ways prefer different service recovery measures. If so, a further question is how Chinese Americans and Mainland Chinese consumers differ in their perceptions of and behavior in response to service failures. Their preferences for different service recovery measures would be of interest to marketers and managers alike. Finally, to further explore the impact of acculturation, examining a service failure and recovery with other ethnic groups may also yield valuable insights.

Footnotes

Appendix

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of this article: This study was supported by a grant from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (A-PB0D) and a grant from the Caesar Hospitality Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Author Biographies

Karin Weber, Ph.D, is an associate professor in the School of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests are service failure/recovery and convention/ exhibition management (karin.weber@polyu.edu.hk).

Cathy H.C. Hsu, Ph.D, is a professor in the School of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research foci have been tourist behaviors, hotel branding, and service quality, particularly in the context of Chinese culture (cathy.hsu@polyu.edu.hk).

Beverley A. Sparks, Ph.D., is a professor with the Department of Tourism, Leisure, Hotel and Sport Management at Griffith University (Australia). Her research interests are customer experience, service recovery and electronic word of mouth (b.sparks@griffith.edu.au).

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