The bright and dark sides of humorous response to online customer complaint

Abstract

Purpose Displaying a sense of humour provides various interpersonal benefits including reducing tension and promoting conflict resolution, but should a firm use humour in response to publicly viewable online customer complaints after a service failure? The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that a firm’s use of humour in response to negative online consumer reviews has both positive and negative effects on perceptions of corporate image from a customer-as-onlooker perspective. Design/methodology/approach Three experimental studies are conducted and analysis of variance is used to empirically test the hypotheses. Findings Although humorous responses have an unfavourable influence on perceived trustworthiness of the firm, they have a favourable influence on perceived excitingness of the firm. The former influence is tied to lower perceived firm sincerity, whereas the latter is tied to higher perceived firm innovativeness and coolness. Furthermore, humour within the customer complaint itself is shown to moderate the influence of humorous responses on perceptions of the firm. Finally, regardless of the type of humour used (i.e. affiliative or aggressive humour) in the humorous response, the positive effect of humorous response remains strong, although aggressive humour further aggravates the negative impact of humorous response on trustworthiness. Research limitations/implications The experimental set-up may limit external validity of the study, and the research is limited to the variables examined. Practical implications Humorous response is identified as a non-traditional approach to online customer complaints that poses a double-edged sword for managers of service organizations. Firms should avoid using humour in online service recovery if perceptions of trustworthiness are critical or if complaints are written in a neutral tone. However, such responses may be successfully used when a firm wants to position itself as exciting and if complaints are also humorous. Finally, firms are advised to avoid aggressive humour. Originality/value The present research represents one of the few studies in marketing to examine the potential of injecting humour into complaint management and service recovery. In addition, this study considers the consumer-as-onlooker perspective inherent in social media.

How Do We Perceive a Humorous Manager? Manager Humor, Impression Management, and Employee Willingness to Work With the Manager

“…Therefore, the current study broadens our understanding of how humor operates in a non-traditional approach. The present research also contributes to the humor literature, which suggests the importance of using humor that is relevant to the message context, such as humorously written replies to customer complaints ( Shin and Larson, 2020 ). Our work also provides insight into the way email correspondence uses humor, as an interpersonal resource for leaders to influence followers.…”

“…It was recently suggested that humorous text messages may be an effective tool for shaping beneficial organizational image. Shin and Larson (2020) conducted three experimental marketing studies suggesting that humorous responses to a client’s complaints by a service agent have a favorable influence on the firm’s perceived attractiveness, regardless of the type of humor used (i.e., affiliative or aggressive humor) The impact of humorous emails on employees’ willingness to work with managers has not been examined previously, and only a few leadership research studies have examined the contribution of managers’ humorous expression and employees’ behavioral intentions. However, we suggest that employees might positively evaluate written humorous messages sent by their managers via email correspondence.…”

“…In addition, studies show that displaying humorous responses to publicly viewable online customer complaints after a service failure can contribute to corporate image perceptions. Specifically, a humorous reply can have a positive influence on the firm’s perceived attractiveness, which was linked to higher perceived firm innovativeness ( Shin and Larson, 2020 ).…”

Bureaucratic Reform by Building Trust in Citizens: Best Practices from Local Online Complaints

“…The use of Ngapak language with humor can be an asset to build a positive government image so the public believes agencies can be trusted to receive a variety of complaint styles. Even so, an organization must pay attention to funny replies to complainants or complaints (Shin & Larson, 2020).…”

For all to see: social risk and observable complaining on Facebook

“…Potential complainants may observe these interactions, to ascertain how or when the firm will intervene, as some customers consider VPO behaviour to be within the control of the firm and hold expectations that the firm will take responsibility and manage those consumer-to-consumer discourses (Colm et al, 2017). Potential complainants may also observe these multilogues to predict whether such social discourse will be favourable or unfavourable in the event that they proceed with EJM 56,1 posting their own complaint (Shin and Larson Lindsay, 2020;Weitzl and Hutzinger, 2017).…”