Communicating Consumer Complaints: Message Content and its Perceived Effectiveness

Bolkan, San; Griffin, Darrin J.; Goodboy, Alan K.

doi:10.1080/01463373.2014.911768

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Lastly, training consumers to communicate complaints in a more productive manner might provide for more effective organizational resolutions and boost perceptions of response efficacy as well. According to Bolkan et al (2014), if consumers are direct and articulate what, exactly, they want when making complaints, they may be more likely to receive satisfying outcomes compared with consumers who simply provide information without suggesting an acceptable resolution or who communicate complaints in a hostile or indirect manner. In addition to facilitating response efficacy, training consumers to communicate effectively might also influence their perceptions of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…MTurk is an online marketplace where individuals and organizations create opportunities for others to complete human intelligence tasks (e.g., filling out surveys) for minimal compensation (Buhrmester, Kwang, & Gosling, 2011). MTurk has been shown to be a valuable platform for soliciting participants for social science research (Berinsky, Huber, & Lenz, 2012) and has been used in previous investigations of consumer complaining (e.g., Bolkan, Griffin, & Goodboy, 2014).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Having said that, by using MTurk this project was able to solicit a wide range of consumers that might not have been available using other techniques. Moreover, researchers have demonstrated that individuals who use MTurk tend to respond to studies of customer complaining in ways that are similar to other consumer groups (e.g., Bolkan et al, 2014).…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Threat, Coping, and Cost: Protection Motivation in the Context of Consumer Complaining

Bolkan

2015

Communication Research

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Despite doing their best to keep customers satisfied, organizations can upset their patrons when expectations go unmet. When these organizational failures occur, consumers sometimes complain directly to companies. This type of behavior may be considered adaptive insofar as it helps individuals rectify their problems and allows organizations to fix issues for others as well. However, not all consumers complain to companies when they experience dissatisfaction; instead, many people choose to engage in less adaptive behaviors such as spreading negative word of mouth or withholding their patronage. This study was conducted to examine how variables related to protection motivation theory (i.e., threat, coping, and cost) relate to consumers' choices regarding complaint behaviors. Four hundred fifty-four participants were solicited online to respond to hypothetical scenarios regarding organizational failures. The data indicated participants' perceptions of threat and cost interacted to predict complaining behavior. Results are discussed as they pertain to organizational practices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Threat, Coping, and Cost: Protection Motivation in the Context of Consumer Complaining

Bolkan

2015

Communication Research

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“…They often resort to borderline legal strategies to get the service firm to listen and act on their unfulfilled needs (McGregor, 2008). These consumer vigilantes might only be voicing frustrations with the promised service and cope by defecting to the competition (Tuzovic, 2010), but some of them might also give ideas on how to fix the problem (Bolkan et al, 2014). Many radical service ideas have been created by frustrated customers (Duverger, 2012).…”

Section: Customer Frustration Can Lead To An Innovative Service Ideamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, some of the most innovative product ideas in the restaurant industry (McDonald's Egg McMuffin, Starbucks' Frappucino), and a large majority of hospitality brands (Hilton, Holiday Inn, Marriott), have been created by former customers disappointed with the existing offerings (Duverger, 2012). Recent findings show that consumer complaints can include suggestions in 24.4 per cent of all cases and solutions to fix the problem in the future in 40.3 per cent of all cases (Bolkan et al, 2014), yet, at the same time, they can use tactics of pressure that involve complaints and threats of switching providers.…”

Section: Customer Frustration Can Lead To An Innovative Service Ideamentioning

confidence: 99%

Crowdsourcing innovative service ideas

Duverger

2015

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how negatively worded innovative ideas can be rejected during a crowdsourcing event sponsored by a service firm via an online forum. The goal of an ideation forum is to collect user-generated content in the form of ideas for new products or services. An ideation forum attempts to clarify the “fuzziness” on the front-end of new product development. Design/methodology/approach – A 2 × 2 (satisfied/dissatisfied customers and negatively/positively worded ideas) experiment replicates the effect of mood-incongruent interactions within ideation forums and measures the likelihood for an idea to be buried or selected on the basis of its merit rather than its negative/positive wording. Findings – The results demonstrate that mood-incongruent interactions have different effects on different groups of participating customers. Negatively worded innovative ideas are rated lower by satisfied customers, despite their superior merit. Research limitations/implications – The nature of the experiment shows a high validity, but lacks in reliability. Thus, future research should attempt to replicate this experiment on a larger scale and across different industries. Practical implications – In an open forum where thousands of customers can give a thumbs’ up or down to an idea, merit should prevail over mood-congruency. If the crowdsourcing mechanism cannot be trusted, it puts the burden back on the firm’s review team to promote or review any downgraded innovative idea, which ends up being counterproductive. Originality/value – These findings shed light on the hidden aspect of crowdsourcing when the aim is to find unique, if not radical, ideas for services. Thus, hoteliers and other hospitality and tourism managers should use these findings to design better ideation forums.

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Dissent

Kassing¹

2017

The International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication

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Organizational dissent, or the expression of disagreement or contradictory opinions about workplace practices and policies, has evolved from a focus on employee resistance to one of message exchange. From a message exchange perspective several research trajectories have developed. These include to whom dissent messages are directed both within and outside of organizations, what factors dictate or contribute to the choices employees make regarding where to direct their dissent, how employees structure, coordinate, and practice the expression of dissent, and how others in the organization respond to and make sense of dissent.

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Communicating Consumer Complaints: Message Content and its Perceived Effectiveness

Cited by 7 publications

References 32 publications

Threat, Coping, and Cost: Protection Motivation in the Context of Consumer Complaining

Threat, Coping, and Cost: Protection Motivation in the Context of Consumer Complaining

Crowdsourcing innovative service ideas

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