The Effect of Cognitive Dissonance on External Information Search and Consumer Complaint Responses

Abstract

The cost of influencing a new customer rapidly increases and exceeds the cost of retaining existing customer. Thus, companies tend to be more concerned with customer retention. Keeping their current market share is one of the important tasks for companies. Understanding why customers complain and switch from one company to another help companies to retain their customers. One of the reasons consumers engage in negative responses can result from dissonance experienced after purchase. The concept cognitive dissonance has been studied widely in the literature of consumer behavior. However, there are few studies discussing the relation between cognitive dissonance (its dimensions) and consumers' complaint responses. This study adopts the 22-item scale of Sweeney et al. (2000) in order to evaluate consumers' level of cognitive dissonance after purchasing a smartphone.This study offers three dimensions of cognitive dissonance -emotion, wisdom of purchase and concern over deal-as the predictors of external information search and consumer complaint responses. This study tests whether cognitive dissonance has significant effects on consumers' search for external information, and in turn, on consumers' complaint and switching intention. The empirical analysis was carried out based on the data gathered by 400 smartphone users, living in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. The survey result was analyzed by using Partial Least Squares (PLS-PM) analysis method. The results reveal that when consumers feel emotional and rational inconsistencies after smartphone purchasing, they need information from external sources (such as asking friends, relatives, other stores), and this information search behavior leads to negative consumer responses as complaint and switching intention.

The impact of disability on guests’ perceptions of service quality delivery in the hospitality industry

“…The halo effect refers to the cognitive process in which the impression of one attribute affects the impression of another independent attribute (Nisbett and Wilson, 1977). This dynamic is due to an individual's tendency to maintain cognitive consistency that is the consistency among related beliefs (Holbrook, 1983;Russo and Corbin, 2016) and/or to avoid cognitive dissonance that is a temporary condition, referring to a strong motivation to get over the unpleasant state (Beckwith et al, 1978;Demirgünes and Avcilar, 2017). Therefore, when a person is served by an employee with a visible disability, the potential negative attitude or affective reactions toward PwDs could bias the judgment of service quality.…”

The Effect of Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Brand Loyalty on Consumer Complaint Behaviors: A Cross-Cultural Study

“…Another issue that has been extensively researched is cognitive dissonance's consequences among consumers [15,35,[51][52][53][54][55]. We know that customers' cognitive dissonance often leads to negative opinions about the product or service, causes a decrease in brand loyalty, and negatively affects repeat purchase intentions [51].…”

The Impact of Services Provided to PwDs on Customer Perceptions of Service Quality in the Hotel Business: The Influence of Gender and Educational Status with or without Disability

“…As said by Nisbett & Wilson (1977), the halo effect is a cognitive process in which one attribute's impression influences the perception of another independent attribute. This dynamic is caused by a person's desire to sustain consistency of cognitive, which is associated beliefs' consistency (Russo & Corbin, 2016;Holbrook, 1983), or/and avoid dissonance of cognitive, which is a short-term condition characterized by a strong desire to overcome the unfriendly state (Demirgünes & Avcilar, 2017). As a result, when PwDs are served in the hospitality business, the possibility for unfavorable attitudes or affective reactions to PwDs may skew service quality judgments.…”