“Don't Forget that Others Are Watching, Too!” The Effect of Conversational Human Voice and Reply Length on Observers’ Perceptions of Complaint Handling in Social Media

Abstract

When dissatisfied customers voice their complaints on companies’ social media pages, many other consumers can observe such interactions. Yet, only limited research has investigated how complaint handling is perceived by this online audience. Since the final outcome of the complaint is rarely visible publicly, the message characteristics (e.g., length and style) of company replies can represent signaling cues for observers of how the complaint is handled. The results of two experimental studies show that the use of conversational human voice (CHV) leads to more positive observer perceptions of complaint handling as opposed to when a corporate voice is employed. We found that interactional justice fully mediates this process and that satisfaction with complaint handling positively impacts corporate image and indirectly observers’ WOM intentions. Surprisingly, high CHV can negatively affect procedural justice, but these effects are mainly offset through interactional justice, as the observers focus on the fairness in the communication exchange. Interestingly, our findings show that, in the case of low CHV, other cues such as the length of the company's reply significantly change perceived justice dimensions; however, the length of reply does not lead to such changes when high CHV is employed. Our studies bring novel findings that contribute to justice and signaling theories in the context of complaints management in social media. Managerial implications are discussed.

Environmentally framed eWOM messages of different valence: The role of environmental concerns, moral norms, and product environmental impact

“…Some organizations, like Positively Sustainable, already provide a sustainability rating scale in reviewing the environmental and social impact of products. Considering how rapidly eWOM, and particularly negative eWOM, spreads online (Javornik et al, 2020), and their effect on a company's reputation and sales (Basuroy et al, 2003), it is paramount for managers to monitor consumers' eWOM communications regarding the environmental impact (EI) of products.…”

Impact of auditory sense on trust and brand affect through auditory social interaction and control

“…The pivotal role of auditory sense has been acknowledged in previous studies (e.g., Javornik et al, 2020 ). Voice, as a sensory input, conveys crucial information such as the credibility, reliability, and other personality factors of a speaker ( Nass et al, 1997 ; Till and Busler, 1998 ).…”

Why should you respond to customer complaints on a personal level? The silent observer's perspective

“…Most research has dealt with the wronged customer's perceptions of an organization's complaint-handling processes (Abney et al, 2017;Einwiller and Steilen, 2015;Fan and Niu, 2016). However, only limited research has investigated how complaint handling is perceived by the online audience (Javornik et al, 2020), thus creating a salient research gap, as complaints posted on Twitter can influence the observers' perceptions.…”

“…In sum, silent observers' behavior might be substantially affected by the exposure to a failure involving other consumers and being vented online. Thus, silent observers' future responses and behavior toward the brand may depend on the way the company deals with the complaint (Javornik et al, 2020).…”