The influence of collectivism and indulgence on service recovery, satisfaction, and intention to complain

This study aims to investigate the influence of cultural characteristics (indulgence-restraint and individualism-collectivism) on customer satisfaction and customer intention to complain in the Turkish tourism industry. Based on the fact that tourist behaviour in Turkey has not been sufficiently studied, especially from the perspectives of these two above cultural dimensions, the study intends to shed further light on tourist behaviour in Turkey. Hence, this study focuses on how tourists respond to service failures and service recovery attempts, expected to be influenced by the indulgence-restraint paradigm. Additionally, the study examines tourists' intention to make face-to-face or online complaints, also expected to be influenced by the collectivism-individualism paradigm. As Turkish tourists come from a culture inclined towards restraint rather, making them more likely to remember negative experiences. Hence, it may be stated that restraint characteristics influence service recovery attempts negatively. Additionally, Turkish tourists preferred to make in-person complaints, rather than online complaints. People from collectivistic cultures (e.g. Turkey) are expected to be more likely to make an online complaint, as, in general, they value harmony more and tend to avoid confrontation. Based on the above, it may be put forward that this study fills an important gap in the literature, and has both theoretical and practical implications regarding the influence of cultural characteristics on service failure and service recovery perceptions of tourists.