Cognitive and Affective Causes of Consumer Dissatisfaction With the Hospitality Encounter

Causality attributions, equity, and affection used to explain satisfaction have received special attention in the literature on dissatisfaction and complaining behavior. In this study we examine the contribution these three antecedents make to consumer dissatisfaction. A causal model has been constructed to examine the effect of these variables on dissatisfaction in a sample of 345 individuals who have had an unsatisfactory experience in a restaurant. The results show that attributions, inequity, and negative affections have a significant, direct and positive influence on the level of dissatisfaction, with attribution as the most influential explanatory variable.

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