Determinants of Customer Complaint Behavior in a Restaurant Context: The Role of Culture, Price Level, and Customer Loyalty

Abstract

Prior cross-cultural research on customer complaint behavior has shown that Asian customers–collectivists (vs. Western customers–individualists) are less likely to engage in voice complaint but more inclined to choose nonconfrontational responses such as switching and negative word-of-mouth. Yet, we suggest that this relationship may not hold true when taking into account customer loyalty, price level, and power distance as cultural value. To that end, we conducted an experiment to examine the joint effects of culture, customer loyalty, and restaurant price level on customer complaint behaviors. Our results indicate that Asian customers might indeed be vocal public complainers when there is no deep commitment to a restaurant and when paying a high price for the service. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.