“If only…”: customer counterfactual thinking in failed recovery

Purpose This paper aims to examine counterfactual thinking as a key mediator of the effects of failed recovery (vs. failed delivery) on negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). The authors further investigate the effectiveness of using recovery co-creation in minimizing customers’ counterfactual thinking. Design/methodology/approach This research includes textual analysis of online reviews (Study 1) and three scenario-based experiments (Studies...