Leah Wing National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution amp U of MA Amherst Orna RabinovichEiny U of Haifa Ethan Katsh National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution amp U of ID: 165497
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Power of Online Apology in e-Commerce" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Power of Online Apology in e-Commerce
Leah Wing
, National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution & U. of MA Amherst
Orna Rabinovich-Einy
, U. of Haifa
Ethan Katsh
, National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution & U. of
MA
Amherst
Doron Dorfman
, Stanford U.
ODR’15 NYCSlide2
Experiment
conducted in conjunction with
Youstice
Special thanks to:
Zbynek
Loebl and Youstice
Staff
Rachel Ran (U
. of
Haifa)
Sarah
Williams, Bill Fritz, Sabrina Kozikis,
and
Hunter
Trubatch (U. of MA Amherst)Slide3
Goal
To
understand more deeply the impact of electronically communicated apologies on the handling and resolution of low value e-
commerce
disputesSlide4
Knowledge Gap
Multidisciplinary Literature Review
Dispute
Resolution
Computer
Mediated
Communication
Commercial
Consumer Relations
Social Psychology
More Research Needed on Impact of:
A
n e-apology
An e-apology in commercial disputes
Types of e-apology (content, strength, timing)
Relationship between e-apology and compensation
Role of e-apology regarding process and outcome
Relationship between e-apology and ODR choice
Relationship between culture and demographics on e-apologies
Text, visuals, and sound on e-apologiesSlide5
Research Experiment:Pilot
Research Subjects:
University students in the US
Experiment Design:
Students read fictional roleplay: book purchased online is received too late; significant ramifications for student’s grade
Students filed
an online complaint in the
Youstice ODR system and negotiated with roleplay e-retailer; option to elevate complaint to ODR neutral for decision
All students received full refund in the negotiation; half also received an apology
Participants completed survey, consent/debriefing
formSlide6
Experiment Apology Typologies
Seller gives no apology:
“
After receiving your complaint we will provide you with full compensation for the item you had purchased.”
Seller gives full
apology (takes responsibility and states empathy
):
“
After receiving your complaint we will provide you with full compensation for the item you had purchased. We acknowledge that the item was delivered to you later than it was guaranteed to arrive and that the delay had a grave impact on you and your academics. In addition, we wish to apologize for not responding to your emails. We have identified the bug in our system that caused these errors and wish to express our sincere regret this very unfortunate circumstance has so negatively impacted you.” Slide7
Preliminary Results*
Indications of the positive impact of an e-apology:
on satisfaction with ODR process
on satisfaction with outcome of ODR process
on forgiveness of e-seller
on willingness to buy from e-seller in future
*
Pilot sample was small, results are not generalizableSlide8
Next Studies
Additional variables
:
Relationship between money/apologies
Relationship between demographics/apologies
Impact of culture on e-apologies
Impact of sound and visuals
International Participant Pool
Universities in US, UK/Scotland, Korea, Japan, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Germany, Argentina, Belgium
, IsraelSlide9
Impact of Research on Practice
These first exciting findings raise important concerns and opportunities:
Benefits for business: loyalty, positive image, and financial savings?
Manipulation to reduce refunds to customers?
Benefits for customers: recognition of negative impact of corporate behavior, respectful treatment, maintenance/repair of relationship?
Will the presence, absence, or type of an apology influence ODR decision-makers?
Should they?
How might differences in the value, power, and role of apologies--due to culture, gender, race, age--impact ODR prevention strategies employed by businesses?
Impact dispute resolution strategies by ODR providers?
How might such research findings be incorporated into training for ODR providers?Slide10
Thanks!