Service Provider Absenteeism: What Happens When You’re Not There? An Abstract

Service provider absenteeism is defined as an instance in which a preferred service provider is not present at the expected time of service provision. Service provider absenteeism is a topic that has remained untouched in the relationship marketing literature, and yet instances of service provider absenteeism may represent possible transformational relationship events (Harmeling, Palmatier, Houston, Arnold, and Samaha, 2015). As such, this topic should be of concern to practitioners and academics alike. The purpose of the present research is to begin the process of understanding the effects of service provider absenteeism on business-to-consumer relationships.