CERS Research Seminar - Yves Van Vaerenbergh
Professor Yves Van Vaerenbergh will present his paper “Who wants to work for an organization that treats customers badly? The impact of negative customer experiences on service organizations’ attractiveness as an employer”. Further information about the seminar can be found in the abstract below.
Abstract: The negative impact of service failures on customer satisfaction, loyalty and profitability is well-documented. This study examines whether the negative consequences of service failures extend beyond the consumer domain and affect organizational attractiveness as an employer. The results of ten studies (two exploratory studies, one field study, one retrospective survey, and six experiments) show that service failures - particularly those with controllable causes and caused by a low-equity consumer brand - render an organization less attractive as an employer. Mediation analyses reveal that service failures affect organizational image (i.e., warmth and competence), which in turn relates to organizational attraction. Organizations can overcome this negative effect by providing a satisfactory service recovery after the service failure. This research suggests that service failures are more harmful than currently assumed in extant literature: Organizations not only risk losing valuable customers, but they also risk not attracting talented employees that can drive or sustain competitive advantage.
Bio: Yves Van Vaerenbergh is Professor of Marketing at KU Leuven, Belgium. His research focuses mainly on service and customer experience management topics, such as service failure and recovery, customer loyalty, and meta-analysis. His publications have appeared in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Retailing and Academy of Management Perspectives, among others. He has received numerous awards for research and teaching, including the 2022 AMA SERVSIG Emerging Service Scholar Award. Yves is also an Associate Editor at Journal of Service Research. He is a co-founder of KALEPA, a KU Leuven spin-off company that helps organizations improve their customer experience.
After the seminar, Professor Van Vaerenbergh will act as the opponent for our Doctoral Researcher, Hoang Khuat.
The seminar will take place in the Teachers’ Lounge (A516) on October 10, from 13:00 to 15:00. We expect in-person participation from all attendees, except for personnel from Vaasa, who will receive a separate Teams link. Larissa Becker is the host.
The main purpose of these research seminars is to provide constructive feedback to advance doctoral research. Primarily, doctoral researchers will present ongoing research, which may include a research plan, dissertation, article, or even work in progress awaiting review. For more information, please refer to the attached document and/or contact Larissa Becker.