Revealing the expectations and preferences of complaining customers by combining the laddering interviewing technique with the Kano model of customer satisfaction

Gruber, Thorsten; Reppel, Alexander; Szmigin, Isabelle; Voss, Roediger

doi:10.1108/13522750810901501

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…It appears that students take the professors ability to listen carefully to what they have to say during the service recovery encounter almost for granted (the attribute is close to the area of basic factors), indicating that its absence will have serious results for higher education institutions. This corroborates previous research by Gruber, Reppel, Szmigin & Voss (2008) who showed that complaining customers take the frontline employee's ability to listen actively to them for granted. Professors have to realise that they cannot impress their complaining students just by listening to them actively, as they already expect this behaviour.…”

Section: Impact Of Professor Attributes On Students' (Dis)satisfactiosupporting

confidence: 81%

Service recovery in higher education: Does national culture play a role?

Gruber

Chowdhury

Reppel

2011

Journal of Marketing Management

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Biography Thorsten Gruber is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing andAbstract: It is now well recognised that an effective service recovery system plays a crucial role in service organisations. However, the importance of such systems has not yet been acknowledged by the higher education industry. Given the need for more research on service recovery expectations of students, this exploratory study attempts to shed light on what students believe to be the desirable attributes of professors during recovery encounters. To investigate how national culture influences student expectations during such encounters, 40 students from the United Kingdom and Bangladesh were interviewed and 210 questionnaires were completed by students. Using the semi-standardised laddering interviewing technique in combination with Kano questionnaires, the study provides an indepth insight into the qualities and behaviours that students expect professors to portray during service recovery encounters. The research reveals that the key attributes desired by both groups of students include being approachable, listening actively, showing empathy and providing an explanation. Among a wide range of benefits, students link these attributes to enhanced teacher-student relationship, better academic performance and at a more abstract level, to desired end-states such as harmony and wellbeing.

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Section: Impact Of Professor Attributes On Students' (Dis)satisfactiosupporting

confidence: 81%

Service recovery in higher education: Does national culture play a role?

Gruber

Chowdhury

Reppel

2011

Journal of Marketing Management

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“…For example, recent studies show that when monetary compensation is delivered in a speedy manner, it has a stronger effect than delayed monetary compensation (Roschk and Gelbrich, 2014). Rapid problem resolution makes consumers feel happy by saving them time, even when time was not their main concern when they first complained (Gruber et al, 2008). It is also known that consumers whose main objectives are to seek redress prefer real-time interaction with companies, such as phone or face-to-face conversations, as opposed to indirect methods such as letters (Mattila and Wirtz, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complaint handling on social media: The impact of multiple response times on consumer satisfaction

Istanbulluoğlu

2017

Computers in Human Behavior

105

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With the increasing popularity of social media, understanding online consumer behaviors is becoming increasingly important for researchers in this field and practitioners who manage social media accounts. The focus of this study is one of the critical aspects of online complaint handling: response time. Using data collected from consumers who complained on Facebook or Twitter, the study explores how the response times of multiple company responses on social media influence consumer satisfaction. Specifically, the first response after the complaint and the conclusive response that closed the complaint file were investigated in regard to consumers' objectives for complaining. Participants in the study stated that they expected companies to reply to their complaints within 1-3 hours on Twitter and within 3-6 hours on Facebook. The analysis reveals that both a quicker first response and a quicker conclusive response lead to higher satisfaction with complaint handling. Furthermore, in contrast to previous research on response time in offline redress-seeking situations, which has suggested that when consumers receive redress, response time does not have an effect on satisfaction, the findings of this study suggest that a speedy response increases satisfaction regardless of the consumers' objectives. These findings provide implications for researchers and practitioners.

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“…Despite the substantial work done in the area of customer feedback management, most of the research conducted so far focuses on customer complaints and dissatisfaction. The customer complaining field was pioneered by Best and Andreasen (1977) and thereafter has been the emphasis of many scholars (Gruber et al, 2008;Henneberg et al, 2015), leaving the various manifestation of PCF quasi-marginalized (Nasr et al, 2014). We do not deny the merits of these robust studies in advancing the area of customer feedback management, where both valences of customer feedback have been acknowledged and considered (Ordenes et al, 2014), but we do propose a complimentary in-depth look at personal PCF.…”

Section: Positive Customer Feedbackmentioning

confidence: 91%

Developing a deeper understanding of positive customer feedback

Nasr

Burton

Gruber

2017

JSM

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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance and extend the understanding of the under researched concept of personal Positive Customer Feedback (PCF). By comparing and contrasting Front-Line Employees' (FLEs) and customers' perspectives, this study aims to develop a deeper understanding of the main elements, characteristics of PCF, its various impacts, and the perceived importance of this phenomenon for both parties. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory research study was conducted using a novel integrated methodological approach combining two well-established qualitative techniques: structured Laddering interviews and various elements of the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET). In total, personal interviews with 40 participants consisting of 20 customers and 20 FLEs were conducted. Findings: This study conceptualizes personal PCF in the service literature by identifying the various PCF elements and characteristics. We extend PCF understanding beyond what the current literature shows (i.e. gratitude, compliments) by identifying nine characteristics of PCF. This study also proposes a number of impacts on both customers and FLEs. While both customers and FLEs have a similar understanding of the various elements and characteristics of PCF, the significance of the various elements and the subsequent impacts vary between the two groups. Finally, three key themes in PCF handling that help position PCF within the extant customer management literature are identified and discussed. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to a well-rounded understanding of customer feedback by counterbalancing the prevailing focus on customer complaining behaviour and proposing a complimentary look at the positive valence of personal feedback. It also provides managerial implications concerning the management of positive service encounters, an emerging topic within service research.

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Revealing the expectations and preferences of complaining customers by combining the laddering interviewing technique with the Kano model of customer satisfaction

Cited by 12 publications

References 61 publications

Service recovery in higher education: Does national culture play a role?

Service recovery in higher education: Does national culture play a role?

Complaint handling on social media: The impact of multiple response times on consumer satisfaction

Developing a deeper understanding of positive customer feedback

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