Recovery-sustainability technique for justice-loyalty nexus in healthcare service industry: Moderating effects of eco-friendly service innovation

Long Kim, Tidarat Maijan, Narithon Imjai, Gulmira Kuzdeualiyevna Issayeva, Somnuk Aujirapongpan

Journal of Open Innovation Technology Market and Complexity, 2026

Full text Open access: Gold Metadata (CSL-JSON)
DOI 10.1016/j.joitmc.2026.100836
Data confidence 85 high
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Abstract

Consolidating service recovery and eco-friendly service innovation helps firms not only fix any possible service errors but also align their service operations with the well-being of the planet, particularly in a post-pandemic market. While service recovery is essential for restoring customer relations, its integration with eco-friendly service innovation remains underexplored in the healthcare industry. This research addresses this gap by proposing a Recovery-Sustainability Technique for Enhancing Loyalty framework (RSTELF) to theoretically advance service-dominant logic by synthesizing Justice Theory and Signaling Theory with eco-friendly service innovation, revealing how service recovery dimensions (distributive, interaction, and procedural justice) are associated with service quality, satisfaction, trust, brand love, and loyalty, along with moderating effects of eco-friendly service innovation. By utilizing a robust dataset of 361 patient surveys from Thai hospitals via a Path Analysis Method, results revealed that while justice dimensions drive service quality and satisfaction, the rise of healthcare service quality promoted satisfaction and trust in healthcare services, leading to an improvement of healthcare service love. Meanwhile, the strategic implementation of eco-friendly service innovation serves as a crucial boundary condition, significantly amplifying the positive effects of both trust and love on long-term loyalty in healthcare services. By delineating these specific pathways, this research offers healthcare practitioners a precise mechanism to achieve both trust restoration and competitive differentiation, bridging the gap between operational recovery and sustainable service development in the healthcare service industry.