Views from consumers next in line: The fundamental attribution error in a service setting

Consumers often have the opportunity to observe the service encounters of other consumers. Previous research indicates that observers tend to attribute the outcome of an event to the disposition of the actor, regardless of the actor’s situational constraints. In most retail service settings, there are at least two actors: a person providing service and a consumer. In an unsuccessful service encounter, who is more likely to be blamed? In Study 1, both allocentric and idiocentric observers spontaneously attribute outcomes to the disposition of the service provider. In Study 2, idiocentric observers do not revise their initial attributions; they always blame the service provider. In contrast, allocentric observers take the service provider’s situational constraints into account except when they believe that they will become outcome dependent on the service provider who has behavioral control. The results reveal that attributions affect observers’ expectations about their own service encounter.