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Journals / Turizm Akademik Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 13 Sayı: 1

The Role of the Babyface Effect on Consumer Perceptions and Responses in Hotel Service Failures

Telafinin Yüzü: Otel Hizmet Telafisinde Yüz Tipi İpuçlarının Telafi Değerlendirmeleri Üzerindeki Etkisi - Senaryo Tabanlı Deneysel Çalışma

Özge Kılıçarslan(PAMUKKALE ÜNİVERSİTESİ, TURİZM FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0002-9774-6911
Pages
1–17
Publication Date
2026-06-09
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings reveal that babyfaced employees enhance perceived sincerity during recovery, leading to significantly higher levels of forgiveness and service recovery satisfaction.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

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Objective & Hypothesis:In the hospitality sector, where service failures are often accompanied by strong emotional and perceptual reactions, the extent to which service providers’ physical attributes shape consumer responses remains insufficiently understood.
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Key Findings & Data:The findings reveal that babyfaced employees enhance perceived sincerity during recovery, leading to significantly higher levels of forgiveness and service recovery satisfaction.
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Conclusion & Impact:Overall, the study demonstrates that employee facial characteristics meaningfully shape service recovery outcomes, offering valuable theoretical insights and practical implications for employee management and customer interaction strategies.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Hizmet Telafisi · Bebek Yüzü Etkisi · Tüketici Tepkileri

Abstract

In the hospitality sector, where service failures are often accompanied by strong emotional and perceptual reactions, the extent to which service providers’ physical attributes shape consumer responses remains insufficiently understood. This study investigates how employee facial type (babyfaced vs. mature-faced) influences consumer perceptions and behaviors during the service recovery process following a service failure. Using a scenario-based experimental design with facial-feature manipulation, the research examines how service recovery satisfaction, forgiveness, negative word-of-mouth, and behavioral intentions vary according to both facial type. The results are based on analyses in which age was included as a covariate to account for differences in the age distribution across experimental conditions. The findings reveal that babyfaced employees enhance perceived sincerity during recovery, leading to significantly higher levels of forgiveness and service recovery satisfaction. Babyfaced employees also foster more positive behavioral intentions and reduce negative word-of-mouth. Conversely, mature-faced employees elicit lower warmth perceptions in emotionally sensitive post-failure contexts, resulting in higher levels of negative word-of-mouth. Overall, the study demonstrates that employee facial characteristics meaningfully shape service recovery outcomes, offering valuable theoretical insights and practical implications for employee management and customer interaction strategies.

Özet

Konaklama sektöründe hizmet hataları çoğu zaman güçlü duygusal ve algısal tepkilerle deneyimlenmekte; buna karşın hizmet sağlayıcılarının fiziksel özelliklerinin tüketici tepkilerini nasıl şekillendirdiği yeterince açıklığa kavuşturulamamıştır. Bu çalışma, hizmet hatası sonrasında uygulanan telafi sürecinde çalışan yüz tipinin (bebek yüzlü vs. olgun yüzlü) tüketici algı ve davranışları üzerindeki etkisini deneysel bir yaklaşımla incelemektedir. Yüz manipülasyonuna dayalı senaryo temelli deneysel tasarım, hizmet telafisi memnuniyeti, tüketici affediciliği, olumsuz ağızdan ağıza iletişim ve davranışsal niyetlerin, yüz tipi doğrultusunda nasıl farklılaştığını test etmektedir. Sonuçlar, gruplar arasındaki yaş dağılımı farklılığı dikkate alınarak yaşın kovaryans olarak modele dâhil edildiği analizlere dayanmaktadır. Bulgular, bebek yüzlü çalışanların, telafi sürecinin samimiyetine yönelik algıyı güçlendirerek tüketici affediciliğini ve telafi memnuniyetini anlamlı biçimde artırdığını göstermektedir. Ayrıca bebek yüzlü çalışanlar, olumlu davranışsal niyetleri desteklerken olumsuz ağızdan ağıza iletişimi belirgin biçimde azaltmaktadır. Buna karşılık olgun yüzlü çalışanlar, özellikle hatanın ardından oluşan duygusal hassasiyet bağlamında daha düşük sıcaklık algısı yaratarak daha yüksek düzeyde olumsuz ağızdan ağıza iletişim üretmektedir. Bu çalışma, çalışan yüz özelliklerinin hizmet telafisini anlamlı biçimde şekillendirdiğini göstererek hem teorik açıklamalara hem de çalışan yönetimi uygulamalarına önemli bir katkı sunmaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Kılıçarslan, Ö. (2026). The Role of the Babyface Effect on Consumer Perceptions and Responses in Hotel Service Failures. Turizm Akademik Dergisi, Cilt: 13 Sayı: 1, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.65981/touraj.1839256

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