With the increasing usage of platforms such as Facebook, understanding customer complaint behaviour (CCB) in the context of the social media is imperative for any businesses. Of the two billion users on Facebook, more than half of its users have shared their product-related experiences with others on the platform (Logan, 2014). This paper aims to explore CCB in the context of social media in regards to customers' unfavourable buying experiences in the retail sector. A qualitative research approach and 12 in-depth interviews were conducted. The findings indicate that the respondents' initial contact with the retailer directly resulted in service recovery failures and undesirable outcomes. Such double deviation then leads to frustration and uncertainty of the situation, which furthermore led to the respondents' need to voice their complaint by sharing their unfavourable experiences on Facebook. The main reasons for the respondents to voice their complaints on the platform is to vent frustration, to share their unfavourable experiences, a need to be seen, understood and respected, to seek revenge by damaging the retailer's reputation as well as offering the retailer a chance to improve. A proper way to manage complaints, in which frontline employees can solve the problem before the customers feel the needs to turn to the social media, is crucial. However, once the complaints is voiced on Facebook, it is imperative to respond to the complaints and acknowledge the problem rather than ignoring the situation.Since the study requires reflections and opinions of the respondents, a qualitative methodology approach and semi-structured interviews were applied. While customers may voice both favourable and unfavourable experiences on the social media as part of electronic word-ofmouth (e-WOM), this paper focuses on the latter such as customer complaints. In addition, the study concentrates on the respondents' perceptions and their point-of-view of the given situation that they have experienced.
Customer complaints are unavoidable in any businesses and how firms handle such complaints will affect the public's perception of the company's brand and reputation. While storytelling is being embraced by an increasing number of companies as a different way to communicate their brand, many customers are now also using storytelling as an approach to voice their unfavourable experiences on the social media in regards to a particular unsatisfactory purchase as part of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Such creative and humorous complaints serve as a way to cut through the clutter in order to gain the company's attention. Those companies that embrace such complaints by responding in an equally humorous and creative manner as part of their service recovery process will manage to recover their customers as well as their employees. As such posts are often shared publicly on the Internet, they may become viral and thus can create great positive effect on the company's reputation. Hence, it is important to empower the employees to recover the services using untraditional responses.
Customer complaints are unavoidable in any businesses and how firms handle such complaints will affect the public's perception of the company's brand and reputation. While storytelling is being embraced by an increasing number of companies as a different way to communicate their brand, many customers are now also using storytelling as an approach to voice their unfavourable experiences on the social media in regards to a particular unsatisfactory purchase as part of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Such creative and humorous complaints serve as a way to cut through the clutter in order to gain the company's attention. Those companies that embrace such complaints by responding in an equally humorous and creative manner as part of their service recovery process will manage to recover their customers as well as their employees. As such posts are often shared publicly on the Internet, they may become viral and thus can create great positive effect on the company's reputation. Hence, it is important to empower the employees to recover the services using untraditional responses.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.