The Power of Forgiveness toward Repurchase Intention

Abstract

At present, satisfaction may not always cause every customer to repurchase. The buyer’s decision-making is more complex than usual. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating roles of forgiveness on the intention to repurchase in the context of international airline service. The survey used questionnaires to collect data from 267 Thai passengers who had perceived an experience of failure of service with an international airline. Hypotheses examined the relationship among the following four constructs: collectivism culture, customer satisfaction, forgiveness, and the intention to repurchase. The SEM results showed that collectivism culture and customer satisfaction had influenced both forgiveness and repurchase intention. Furthermore, forgiveness plays a role as a mediating effect on collectivism and satisfaction towards repurchase intention. Thus, forgiveness from the customer can perform a role as a coping strategy to release negative emotions from failure of service and can open the gates of opportunity for positive behaviors, such as an intention to repurchase and positive attitudes. The findings provide a new aspect of consumer behavior for marketing scholars and extend understanding in the role of forgiveness toward behavior intention by the customer.