Complaint behaviour in multichannel retailing: a cross-stage approach

Abstract

PurposeThis paper analyses how the purchase channel and customer complaint goals affect the sequential choice of post–purchase complaint channels when customers experience a service failure followed by a service recovery failure (double deviation).Design/methodology/approachAn online survey involving a scenario manipulation was conducted with 577 apparel shoppers. The study employs multi-group latent class analysis to estimate latent customer segments within both online and offline groups of shoppers and compare latent classes between the two groups.FindingsThe results show that the purchase channel has a lock-in effect on the complaint channel, which is stronger for offline buyers. Moreover, there is evidence of channel synergy effects in the case of having to complain twice: shoppers who complain in store in the first attempt turn to online channels in the second complaint attempt, and vice versa. Complaint goals shape the choice of complaint channels and define different shopper segments.Originality/valueThe present study is the first to adopt a cross-stage approach that analyses the dependencies between the purchase channel and the complaint channel used on two subsequent occasions: the first complaint after a service failure and the second following a service recovery failure.

Unethical customer behaviour: causes and consequences

“…This would entail shop format attributes (Reutterer and Teller, 2009) and other retail settings such as online shopping areas. For example, research on customer complaint management indicates that different distribution channels induce varied complaint behaviours (Frasquet et al. , 2021).…”

“…This would entail shop format attributes (Reutterer and Teller, 2009) and other retail settings such as online shopping areas. For example, research on customer complaint management indicates that different distribution channels induce varied complaint behaviours (Frasquet et al, 2021). Likewise, future research on UCB could equally look at behavioural differences within various distribution channels and differing contexts (e.g.…”

Factors of customers’ channel choice in an omnichannel environment: a systematic literature review

“…Channel switching may also occur due to cost avoidance motives, which appear to lead customers to less personal and less interactive channels such as the internet (Barwitz and Maas 2018 ; Boardman and McCormick 2018 ), notwithstanding the finding by Kukar-Kinney and Close ( 2010 ) that waiting for sale or lower prices is one of the main reasons for online shopping cart abandonment and subsequent purchase in brick-and-mortar stores. For redress-seeking, a need unique to the after-sales stage, Miquel-Romero et al ( 2020 ), Mattila and Wirtz ( 2004 ) and Frasquet et al ( 2021 ) showed that customers tend to visit interactive complaint channels such as brick-and-mortar stores. If dissatisfaction with a product is high, the importance of a channel’s convenience wanes and customers focus more on redress – a scenario that exemplifies the influence of customer needs on the relative significance of perceived channel characteristics.…”

“…This would also explain the frequent choice of physical stores and social media channels for complaints (Dalla Pozza 2014 ; Frasquet et al 2019 ; Miquel-Romero et al 2020 ). Interestingly, when customers choose a complaint channel for a second complaint after an unsatisfactory first attempt, they tend to switch channels again; probably to take advantage of synergy effects between the channels (Frasquet et al 2021 ).…”

“…The current COVID-19 pandemic and the associated measures have exercised a major influence on channel choice behavior and served as an object lesson in the power of situational factors; social distancing and lockdowns, for instance, push up the access costs of brick-and-mortar stores (Wang et al 2021a ). There is clearly much research to be done into the pandemic’s short- and long-term impact on channel choice (Filotto et al 2021 ; Frasquet et al 2021 ; Kondo and Okubo 2022 ).…”