Examining the Nonlinear Effects in Satisfaction-Loyalty-Behavioral Intentions Model

Extant research has widely investigated linear functional forms in satisfaction and loyalty models. Though complex nonlinear nature of satisfaction loyalty link is suggested by several researchers, few attempts have been made to empirically examine nonlinearity. Moreover, researchers have used divergent functional forms to model nonlinearity and their findings are often inconclusive. In this study we use nonlinear form to describe the relationship between satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty, purchase loyalty and customer behavioral intentions such as willingness to pay more and external and internal complaining responses in the context of business-to-consumer ecommerce. We find modest empirical support for nonlinear effects in the relationship. Results support nonlinearity only in the case of attitudinal loyalty to internal complaining response link. Results also present evidence about the mediating role of attitudinal loyalty in the relationship between satisfaction, purchase loyalty, willingness to pay more and internal complaining responses.

Customer Dissatisfaction and Complaining Responses Towards Mobile Telephony Services

The paper examines customer satisfaction and complaint responses towards Mobile telephony services. The study was a cross-sectional survey involving customers from two mobile telephony companies. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS (version 16.0). The study found that customer satisfaction rating differed according to the mobile networks, and previous dissatisfaction significantly influences complaining response. Again, dissatisfied customers tend to complain more than satisfied ones. Moreover, dissatisfaction may not necessarily induce complaining and some satisfied customers may still complain. Furthermore, previous dissatisfaction may not always negatively affect overall satisfaction if it is effectively managed. Finally, the study indicates that the highest rated complaining response is complaining in person to the customer service center and the least is complaining to the mass media. Implications and limitations are discussed. This paper contributes to providing empirical evidence on consumer complaining behavior in mobile telephony industry in developing country context

The Use Of Computer Mediated Communication In Consumer Complaining: A Study In Higher Education

The electronic channel for consumer complaining has increased dramatically in recent years and continued growth is expected in the future. The objective of this research was to explore how computer-mediated communication is being used as a channel for complaining in higher education. A study was conducted of the complaint intentions of 222 students at one college in the eastern half of the United States.  Four complaining dimensions were studied:  Voice, Negative Word-of-Mouth, Third Party, and Exit.  The results indicated that the most common behavioral intentions are: Complain to other students face-to-face, complain to the professor in office, and never take another class from the professor. The research findings also indicate the number of students who are likely to use computer-mediated communication to complain. In addition, the results show strong correlations between computer-mediated complaining and other complaining responses

Complainers versus non-complainers retaliatory responses towards service dissatisfactions

The paper aims to investigate the different forms of retaliatory responses towards dissatisfactory service encounters experienced by Australian consumers. It further compares demographic and psychographic profiles of complainers versus non-complainers. 1200 mail surveys were sent out through a random list of addresses obtained from the White Pages. Data from 237 usable surveys (29.1%) were analysed using a series of statistical techniques including factor analysis to profile psychographic factors and discriminant analysis to identify complainers from non-complainers. It is found that both complainers and non-complainers engage in some form of retaliatory responses. Complainers have a high sense of justice, are less conservative and have a more positive attitude towards complaining than their non-complaining counterparts. Gender, income and education have no effect on complaining behaviour for both complainers and non-complainers.The high number of retaliation through 'exit' is a concern for Australian firms. Firms have to make an effort to identify the conditions exactly how each occurs and the strategies best available to rectify them. Mechanisms can be put in place to reduce these occurrences to improve the business as a whole. The paper matches the demographic and psychographic profiles of complainers and non-complainers with potential types of products and services and the related retaliatory responses

AN ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINING RESPONSES USED BY THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM ENTITLED SEX AND THE CITY (A Socio- Pragmatics Approach)

The research focused on the acts of complaining. It was conducted to find out the kinds of complaining strategies used by the characters in the film “Sex and the City”, the responses employed towards the complaint, and the reasons why the hearer uses such responses. This research applied Socio- Pragmatics approach which employed descriptive qualitative method. In taking the data, the researcher used total sampling technique. The researcher took the dialogues containing the act of complaining as data. The researcher found three results in this research. The first result is that there are five kinds of complaint strategies found in the film entitled Sex and the City. They are Hint strategy, Annoyance strategy, Direct Accusation strategy, Explicit Condemnation of the Accused’s Action, and Explicit Condemnation of the Accused as a Person. According to the directness level of the complaint proposed by Anna Trosborg, Hint strategy is the mildest strategy and the Explicit Condemnation of the Accused as a Person strategy is the most severe one. The second result shows that there are five types of responses employed by the hearers towards the complaint proposed by Richard and Schmidt. They are apology, denial, excuse, justification, and challenge. The third result shows that there are five reasons why the hearers employed such kinds of responses. The first is because the hearer knows that he is guilty and feels regretful. It is found in the apology response. Second, because the hearer is sure that he is not guilty or not realizing his mistake. It is found in the denial response. Third, because the hearer does not want to confess directly what he has done and wants to defend himself. It is found in the excuse response. Fourth, because the hearer does not want to avoid the complaint and he intends to admit explicitly his mistake. It is found in the justification response. Fifth, because the hearer is certainly sure that he is not guilty and confident to dispute it. It is found in the challenge response. Based on the conclusion above, the researcher hopes that this research can give contribution to the students to study more about speech acts of complaining. It is suggested to other researchers who are interested in Linguistics study to conduct further research on speech acts of complaining depicted from other source such as daily conversation

Gender Differences in Complaint Strategies among Iranian Upper Intermediate EFL Students

The goal of this research was to know the differences between the strategies used by male and female upper intermediate EFL learners in complaining. Various studies suggest that the way men and women speak is different. Women are considered to be more polite than men. The present study investigated the differences of complaining realizations between Iranian EFL men and women students. A number of 60 (30 males and 30 females) upper intermediate students were selected based on their performance on a general proficiency test administered by the institute’s authorities to participate in the study. Data were collected through an open-ended questionnaire in the form of a Discourse Completion Task (DCT). The responses were analyzed based on Rinnert and Nogami’s (2006) taxonomy. The study revealed that there was a difference between men and women in realizing the complaining speech act. Men used very direct complaint more frequently compared to women who used indirect complaints the most. The present study found gender has an influence on the choice of complaining strategies and politeness

Managing complaints to improve customer profitability

In this study, the authors aim to understand whether, to what extent, and under what circumstances, organizational responses to customercomplaints improve customer profitability. To do so, they build upon the congruence approach and propose a contingency framework in whichthe effectiveness of three organizational responses to customer complaints (timeliness, compensation and communications) in improving customerprofitability is contingent upon the strength of the relationship and the type of failure. The framework is tested empirically in the financialservices industry applying latent class techniques to longitudinal data for a sample of complaining customers. The results reveal that: (1) differentcomplaint-handling initiatives affect customer profitability differently for each of the four segments of complaining customers that are obtained; (2)these heterogeneous responses to complaint handling are explained by differences in the orientation of the relationship and in the failure context;and (3) complaint-handling initiatives are more (less) effective at improving customer profitability when the benefits they offer strongly (poorly)match the benefits sought by customers in each segment to recover from the failure. These results contribute to a better theoretical understandingof customers’heterogeneous responses to complaint handling and offer managerial recommendations to allocate marketing resources acrossalternative complaint-handling strategies to improve profitability

International student complaint behaviour: Understanding how East-Asian business and management students respond to dissatisfaction during their university experience

The higher education sector is characterised by intense global competition for international students. This is driving universities to place greater priority on the student experience and, in particular, student satisfaction and retention. However, an under-researched area is student complaint behaviour. By understanding how students react to poor experiences; the likely impact on the learning and teaching experience, satisfaction ratings and ultimately international student recruitment can be assessed, and appropriate strategies implemented. This study developed an instrument that measured East-Asian students’ preferred university complaint channels. The research focused on four categories of complaint behaviour: public, private, third party and non-behavioural, and data were collected from 135 East-Asian Business and Management students. A vignette questioning technique was used, providing respondents with hypothetical negative student experiences and recording their likely responses in terms of both how and where they would complain. Results suggest international students are pro-active in reporting dissatisfaction direct to the university, but also share these negative experiences with fellow students. The findings offer new insights to those responsible for managing the student experience and, in particular, for those tasked with handling student complaints

Consumer complaint behavior: Beyond Hirschman's exit-voice-loyalty framework

Studies on consumer complaining behavior mainly focus on complaining behavior predictors (e.g., culture, demographic characteristics, personality characteristics).  Academics and practitioners have accorded little attention to the concept of a consumer complaint behavior and the complaint responses structure. In fact, since Hirschman's "Exit-Voice-Loyalty model," few researchers have attempted to improve and offer new frameworks (e.g., Singh's taxonomy; Day and Landon's dichotomy). The purpose of this paper is to examine the classical taxonomies of consumers complaining behavior. The first result shows that the conceptual and methodological studies bring about significant variation and differentiation in terms of terminology, variable definitions, number of variables used, and model structure. These different interpretations could naturally generate contradicting classifications and misleading results. The second result refers to the inadequacy of the classical taxonomies to withstand the test of time. Today's consumers have multiple complaining opportunities or platforms that need to be considered in the research model. Companies are facing challenges when it comes to choosing which communication platform must be prioritized. For instance, social media platforms add another layer of complexity to the study of complaining behavior. In light of these changes, academics should design integrated models to guide research and help practitioners acquire more profound knowledge and design efficient complaints handling systems. From a managerial perspective, companies hold incomplete and inaccurate customer satisfaction data. While consumer complaint behavior is studied separately, academics have pointed out that complaint actions are part of the post-purchase outcomes. Therefore, including complaints in the satisfaction, dissatisfaction process will only give companies a complete picture. Managers could improve satisfaction data and analysis through the use of sound recovery systems.Studies on consumer complaining behavior mainly focus on complaining behavior predictors (e.g., culture, demographic characteristics, personality characteristics).  Academics and practitioners have accorded little attention to the concept of a consumer complaint behavior and the complaint responses structure. In fact, since Hirschman's "Exit-Voice-Loyalty model," few researchers have attempted to improve and offer new frameworks (e.g., Singh's taxonomy; Day and Landon's dichotomy). The purpose of this paper is to examine the classical taxonomies of consumers complaining behavior. The first result shows that the conceptual and methodological studies bring about significant variation and differentiation in terms of terminology, variable definitions, number of variables used, and model structure. These different interpretations could naturally generate contradicting classifications and misleading results. The second result refers to the inadequacy of the classical taxonomies to withstand the test of time. Today's consumers have multiple complaining opportunities or platforms that need to be considered in the research model. Companies are facing challenges when it comes to choosing which communication platform must be prioritized. For instance, social media platforms add another layer of complexity to the study of complaining behavior. In light of these changes, academics should design integrated models to guide research and help practitioners acquire more profound knowledge and design efficient complaints handling systems. From a managerial perspective, companies hold incomplete and inaccurate customer satisfaction data. While consumer complaint behavior is studied separately, academics have pointed out that complaint actions are part of the post-purchase outcomes. Therefore, including complaints in the satisfaction, dissatisfaction process will only give companies a complete picture. Managers could improve satisfaction data and analysis through the use of sound recovery systems

The Intentional Use of Service Recovery Strategies to Influence Consumer Emotion, Cognition and Behaviour

Service recovery strategies have been identified as a critical factor in the success of. service organizations. This study develops a conceptual frame work to investigate how specific service recovery strategies influence the emotional, cognitive and negative behavioural responses of . consumers., as well as how emotion and cognition influence negative behavior. Understanding the impact of specific service recovery strategies will allow service providers' to more deliberately and intentionally engage in strategies that result in positive organizational outcomes. This study was conducted using a 2 x 2 between-subjects quasi-experimental design. The results suggest that service recovery has a significant impact on emotion, cognition and negative behavior. Similarly, satisfaction, negative emotion and positive emotion all influence negative behavior but distributive justice has no effect