The Effect of Cognitive Appraisals on Emotional Responses During Service Encounters

Abstract

Using appraisal theory literature, this study examines how consumer appraisals of different events during a service encounter influence the type of emotional responses consumers will have during the encounter. The study used video vignettes with positive and negative events during a restaurant encounter. The findings indicated that cognitive appraisals predict emotional responses. The appraisals that were found to be most important were the appraisals of motive-consistency and coping potential. These findings suggest that consumers are more likely to experience positive emotions when the events are consistent with their desires but, even in cases when an event is inconsistent with one's desires, one may still experience positive emotions if there is perceived ability to cope with the undesirable event. Implications of these findings for service providers, especially regarding recovery of service failures, are discussed.

Key Words:

• Cognitive appraisals
• consumer behavior
• coping with service failures
• emotions
• service encounters