The impact of positive and corrective feedback on customer service performance

Abstract Determining and interpreting the impact that different types of feedback have on performance has been difficult because there are a number of complex theoretical processes or mechanisms involved. To minimize some of this complexity and rule out possible alternate explanations in this study subjects in highly routine tasks were used (111 employees from 11 fast food restaurants). A quasi‐experimental field design compared the effects of positive versus corrective feedback. The term corrective feedback is deliberately used instead of negative feedback because of the close association that negative feedback has with noxious, punishment‐based feedback. In this study, the term corrective is more descriptive of the type of feedback given to subjects, but the term negative could be substituted when making comparisons with the literature on feedback. The corrective feedback in this study is based on a cybernetic, self regulation model and the positive feedback is based on a behavioral reward approach. Consistent with the Closed Loop Model of Self Regulation, the results showed that positive feedback did not improve performance. The control group improved significantly more than the positive feedback group. However, the corrective feedback group did not perform significantly different from the control group. A secondary part of the study examined the impact that the two types of feedback had on non‐performance variables of commitment, satisfaction and feedback acceptability. These latter results were mixed. The theoretical and practical implications of these performance and non‐performance results are discussed.