Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for and an initial understanding of critical times in business relationships. Design/methodology/approach – The authors define “critical time” as a period of time with increased sensitivity in a business...

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to test the validity and reliability of a SOS construct and its dimensions (i.e. self, other and situational) of negative emotions in the context of consumers' service experience (CSE) and the following processes of service recovery by firms (SRF)....