Impact of National Culture in Reaction to Service Failures

In a service, there are failures that are unavoidable. Since the culture can influence the reactions after failure, this study aimed to understand the impact of cultural dimensions in the reactions to service failures, namely the cultural dimensions of Hofstede (High vs Low Power Distance and Masculinity vs Femininity). For this, a mixed methodology was used. In a first phase, interviews were conducted and, subsequently, online questionnaires were used to know how the respondents would react after service failures in different scenarios. One scenario considers a weak power service (restaurant), other scenario considers a strong power service (lawyer). The results showed that different levels in the various cultural dimensions lead to different reactions to failures. Also, the degree of "power" and the frequency of service impact in a different way in some cultural dimensions. This study contributes to the service management literature, bridging some gaps in the culture in services theme and provides guidelines for service managers.