Customer complaining behaviour in technology‐based service encounters
International Journal of Service Industry Management
ISSN: 0956-4233
Article publication date: 1 May 2003
Abstract
Compares complaining behaviour in traditional and technology‐based service encounters. Drawing on 160 negative critical incidents within Finnish retail banking, shows that, contradictory to common predictions, there are no significant differences in the complaining rates between the two types of service encounters. Attributes this finding to the high reliance of traditional complaining methods in both types of service encounters. Finds, however, that complaints about technology‐based service encounters have significantly higher response rates than complaints about traditional service encounters. Also, when focusing on technology‐based service encounters, finds that customers who actually consider themselves guilty for the outcome were the most frequent complainers, while the ones attributing the outcome to technology failures or service process failures complain less often. These findings have interesting implications for designers of service recovery systems.
Keywords
Citation
Snellman, K. and Vihtkari, T. (2003), "Customer complaining behaviour in technology‐based service encounters", International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 217-231. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230310474174
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited