This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Grace, D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

How Embarrassing! An Exploratory Study of Critical Incidents Including Affective Reactions

Griffith University

Using Critical Incident Technique, data are collected from 166 respondents who related incidents involving embarrassment experienced over a total of 44 different service environments. In applying a functional analysis, a number of embarrassment antecedents in the form of sources (e.g., customer, service provider, others present) and stimuli (e.g., criticism, awkward acts, image appropriateness, forgetfulness/lack of knowledge/error, environment/surroundings, and violations of privacy) are identified. Embarrassment was found to be manifested by emotional, physiological, and behavioral reactions, and its long-term consequences include both positive and negative behavioral intentions and word-of-mouth communications. The Functional Analysis of Consumer Embarrassment provides an informative framework to enhance our understanding of affective reactions in service encounters and provides a solid foundation for future research.

Key Words: service encounter • affective reactions • embarrassment • emotions • consumption • services

Journal of Service Research, Vol. 9, No. 3, 271-284 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/109467050700900305


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?