Redress Response And its Effects on Company Impression

Abstract

Firms' traditional views of responding to consumer complaint letters (termed the Good News/Bad News Model) are limited in their perspectives because they do not consider the impact that such responses have on the complainer's long-term impression of the firm. A new model (called the extended model), which includes the impact of the redress letter on the complainer's long-term impression, is developed and tested in this paper. Using a sample of elderly complainers who have been recent recipients of redress letters, test findings indicate that aspects of response, such as interest in solving the problem and specificity affect effectiveness judgments and impact on the recipient's overall impression of the company. Stressing these aspects of response in written complaint redress could have an effect on the recipient's impression of the firm and, therefore, aid in the “recapturing” of a satisfied consumer.