Equity theory was applied to retail exchange situations to test hypotheses about subjects’ perceptions of inequity and behaviors they would perform. Subjects in Group 1 made evaluative ratings of 16 hypothetical situations in which two sources of inequity, high price and poor service, were introduced, along with varying levels of shopping frequency and item cost. Subjects perceived high price inequity situations as less fair than low ones, and high service inequity situations as less fair than low ones when price inequity was low. When price inequity was high, subjects perceived high shopping frequency situations less fair than low ones. Subjects in Group 2 chose the behavior they would be most likely to perform in each situation. When inequity was present, most subjects chose leaving the store, although several chose complaining about price or service when shopping frequency was also high.

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Administrators can tap into the wealth of commentary on social media as the forum continues to expand its influence in health care. Comments on social media may also serve as an early snapshot of patient-reported experiences, alerting administrators to problems that may appear in subsequent HCAHPS survey results.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine the effects of actions recommended by researchers for firms to encourage complaint voicing, and test the proposition that complaining by dissatisfied consumers would increase if only firms would make it easier to complain.Design/methodology/approachAn experimental study assessed consumer reactions to scenarios in which a retailer made it easier or harder to complain by varying its refund policy, employee empowerment, access to call center representatives, and in‐store hassles to return merchandise. Consumers in an online panel completed questionnaires measuring perceived effort, likelihood of success, and complaint intentions.FindingsComplaint‐friendly policies produced perceptions of lower anticipated difficulty and increased chances of successful redress. However, only lenient refund policy significantly influenced complaint voicing intentions. While most policies designed to make complaining easier had limited impact on complaint voicing, measured perceptions of complaint difficulty were significant predictors of complaining intentions.Research limitations/implicationsIn future studies, researchers should examine these variables in non‐retail settings where getting a refund does not dominate the consumer's decision to voice a complaint.Practical implicationsThe results call into question the proposition that complaint voicing would increase if only firms would make complaining easier. Managers should focus on assuring customers of liberal refund policies if they complain.Originality/valueBy focusing on actions that the firm can undertake to improve the probability of consumer complaining, this paper departs from the literature on antecedents of complaining behavior, which has focused on individual difference factors that affect the probability of complaining, variables that lie outside managerial control.