Action control,proxy control,and consumers' evaluations of the service exchange

This article adopts a consumer's point of view, and extends current literature that models the relationships between consumers' control perceptions, service providers' fair behaviors, and consumers' satisfaction with the exchange. Perceived control is disassembled into action and proxy control and their differential actions in the service exchange discussed. This article models, for the first time, the joint effects of perceived control and service provider behaviors on consumer satisfaction by explicitly connecting service‐provider fair behaviors to consumers' perceptions of control. The results from two repeated‐measures experiments provide support for the hypotheses. Specifically, a multivariate analysis of the data demonstrated main effects for the experimental manipulations on perceived control, perceived fairness, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. An interaction effect between perceived control and perceived fairness was also evident in one experiment. Future research and managerial implications are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.