Firms' complaint handling policies and consumer complaint voicing

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine the effects of actions recommended by researchers for firms to encourage complaint voicing, and test the proposition that complaining by dissatisfied consumers would increase if only firms would make it easier to complain.Design/methodology/approachAn experimental study assessed consumer reactions to scenarios in which a retailer made it easier or harder to complain by varying its refund policy, employee empowerment, access to call center representatives, and in‐store hassles to return merchandise. Consumers in an online panel completed questionnaires measuring perceived effort, likelihood of success, and complaint intentions.FindingsComplaint‐friendly policies produced perceptions of lower anticipated difficulty and increased chances of successful redress. However, only lenient refund policy significantly influenced complaint voicing intentions. While most policies designed to make complaining easier had limited impact on complaint voicing, measured perceptions of complaint difficulty were significant predictors of complaining intentions.Research limitations/implicationsIn future studies, researchers should examine these variables in non‐retail settings where getting a refund does not dominate the consumer's decision to voice a complaint.Practical implicationsThe results call into question the proposition that complaint voicing would increase if only firms would make complaining easier. Managers should focus on assuring customers of liberal refund policies if they complain.Originality/valueBy focusing on actions that the firm can undertake to improve the probability of consumer complaining, this paper departs from the literature on antecedents of complaining behavior, which has focused on individual difference factors that affect the probability of complaining, variables that lie outside managerial control.

Customer e-complaining behaviours using social media

“…In such cases, dissatisfied customers are more likely to voice their complaints to the service provider than complain to others. This finding is consistent with those of Huppertz (2007), who found that a firm's complaint policy and subsequent actions effectively lead to expectations of service recovery.…”

Determinants of Consumer Complaining Behavior: A study of Pakistan

“…Customer"s reaction to service failure is affected by many factors such as level of dissatisfaction (Mittal, Huppertz, & Khare, 2008), the likelihood of service recovery (Blodget & Granbois, 1992), the ease of process of complaining (Blodget & Anderson, 2000), and the perception that whether or not company will respond back (Huppertz, 2007). Other factors may include current relationship of consumer with the company (Hui, Ho, & Wan, 2011) and consumer"s attitude toward complaining (Kim, Kim, Im, & Shin, 2003).…”

Moving Towards Successful Complaint Management

“…Although the majority of companies support most of the mentioned communication channels and customers have general channel preferences, the implementation, execution, and supervision of each channel affects customers' satisfaction levels (Blodgett et al 1995). These attributes can be consolidated as a major part of a company's complaint management policy (Huppertz 2007). Section 2.4 highlights the major determinants of customer satisfaction in complaint management policies, which are essential for the conceptualisation in Chap.…”