Abstract
This study assesses the effects when customers either receives less (under-reward), the same (equity-reward), or more (over-reward)
service quality in relation to other customers present in same service encounter. Our results show that the over-reward did not produce
more customer satisfaction and not higher levels of repatronage intentions than did the equity- reward. The under-reward, however,
produced less satisfaction and less repatronage intent than both equity-reward and over-reward. And in a transparent service
encounter, one customer’s over-reward is another customer’s under-reward. Our results therefore problematize the notion of “the
special treatment” in service encounters comprising several customers.