CHRISTMAS decorations encourage Christianraised shoppers to be more forgiving of bad service, according to research from Deakin University.<\/p>\n
Geelong-based Dr Riza Casidy from Deakin\u2019s Business School was part of the team that discovered the effect after undertaking seven experiments with more than 1,500 participants in the United States.<\/p>\n
The three-researcher team found popular Christmas decorations activated religious beliefs among consumers with a Christian upbringing, causing them to be more forgiving of \u201cservice failures\u201d \u2013 instances when service delivery did not meet a customer\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n
However the Christmas stimuli also served as a double-edged sword for businesses, as the researchers found the same Christian-raised shoppers experienced a heightened sense of social injustice if they observed vulnerable members of the community being subjected to poor customer service.<\/p>\n
Deakin\u2019s Dr Joshua Newton said decorative or seemingly incidental features such as background music, scent or store ambience could influence how consumers evaluated service encounters.<\/p>\n
\u201cSymbols associated with seasonal religious festivals such as Christmas can serve more than just a decorative function.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome Christmas symbols such as nativity scenes, stars and angels draw on Christian imagery, while others such as pine trees and holly have more pagan or secular origins. But by virtue of their strong connection to Christmas, they\u2019ve all become infused with a shared set of meanings for those with a Christian upbringing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the presence of such symbols, individuals soften their evaluations of a personally experienced service failure encounter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe this exposure to Christmas symbols may activate beliefs associated with Christianity, influencing customers\u2019 readiness to forgive instances of poor customer service.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christians of various denominations make up the largest reported religious group in Australia (57.7 per cent), according to the most recent figures from the Australia Bureau of Statistics.<\/p>\n
Dr Newton said few religious symbols rivalled those of the festival of Christmas in the way they had permeated the public sphere.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could potentially transform our understanding of how religion influences customer service interactions and post-service failure outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur findings suggest that religiously infused beliefs can be deliberately activated through the strategic use and placement of religious festival symbols.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Christmas symbols don\u2019t turn a neutral service experience into a positive one, they have been shown to lessen the impact of negative customer service interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CHRISTMAS decorations encourage Christianraised shoppers to be more forgiving of bad service, according to research from Deakin University. Geelong-based Dr Riza Casidy from Deakin\u2019s Business School was part of the team that discovered the effect after undertaking seven experiments with more than 1,500 participants in the United States. The three-researcher team found popular Christmas decorations […]<\/p>\n