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Perceived Reasonableness and Morals in Service Encounters

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Abstract

Companies have a moral responsibility to treat customers fairly. One way for companies to do so is to allow their employees to exercise reasonableness in their interactions with customers. We define reasonableness as a latitude or space that exists around expectations in the delivery of service. In this paper, we explore the concept of reasonableness from a customer’s perspective (i.e., perceived reasonableness) and the role that the morals of service personnel play in customers’ perceptions of reasonableness. First, through an open-ended survey on customers’ unreasonable service experiences, we identify themes of perceived reasonableness. We also discuss the role that the morals of service personnel play within these themes. Second, in order to identify the relationships between these themes, we create a cognitive map and discuss the implications of the identified relationships. Finally, we provide directions for future research on reasonableness.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Section Editor and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions on earlier versions of the manuscript. The authors also thank Suzanne D. Pawlowski, Linda Swayne, Yanzhi Zhang, Igor Makienko, and Esi Adeborna for their contributions in the preparation of this paper. The authors appreciate the technical assistance provided by Megaputer Intelligence.

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  1. Department of Business and Information Technology, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 107 I Fulton Hall, Rolla, MO, 65409, USA

    Nobuyuki Fukawa

  2. Department of Marketing, Belk College of Business, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 252B Friday Building, 9201 University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC, 28223-0001, USA

    Sunil Erevelles

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Correspondence to Nobuyuki Fukawa.

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Fukawa, N., Erevelles, S. Perceived Reasonableness and Morals in Service Encounters. J Bus Ethics 125, 381–400 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1918-5

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