An investigation into whether complaining can cause increased consumer satisfaction

Abstract

Marketers agree that consumer complaints are useful sources of information that help marketers identify sources of dissatisfaction, and therefore should be encouraged. However, does complaining have a more direct beneficial effect? Can consumer complaining by itself cause increased satisfaction by allowing dissatisfied consumers a chance to vent their anger and frustration? An experiment was conducted on real consumers to test what effects complaining may have on changes in the consumers’ satisfaction and product evaluations over a one‐week period. It was found that consumers who were encouraged to complain reported greater increases in satisfaction and product evaluation compared to consumers who were not explicitly asked to complain. The changes in satisfaction and product evaluations were found to be related to the complaining intensity. The effect of complaining on actual purchasing behavior was also studied.