Relating the Zone of Tolerance to Service Failure in the Hospitality Industry

The purpose of this study was to explore the zone of tolerance concept in relation to perceptions of service encounters, specifically when service failures are likely to occur. A simulated restaurant experience consisting of a series of dining service encounters was conducted with a sample of academic staff and research students. Results showed that individuals have different perceptions with different variability in their zone of tolerance; individuals appear to have a larger zone of tolerance when dealing with negative encounters and a narrower zone of tolerance for positive encounters. In addition, an initial negative encounter predisposes customers to future negative encounters. Failure is seen as a difficult concept to judge as individuals have diverse perceptions of what constitutes a failure and when it starts. Further research directions are proposed.