Studying international complaints: a multicultural analysis across two time periods
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
ISSN: 0885-8624
Article publication date: 24 January 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This paper first aims to examine associations between factors involved in business-to-business complaints management and results (satisfaction and loyalty) and analyses three types of distributors based on their cultural profile (domestic, low context and high context). Second, the paper investigates whether the identified associations remain stable over time.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from a sample of distributors for a manufacturing company were gathered during two periods of time. A factorial analysis of correspondences and a cluster analysis were carried out to visually represent the associations among clients, complaints and results in the associations among clients, complaints and results. The stability over time of these relationships was also analysed by calculating the correlations between the Euclidean distances on the two maps (one per year) and their mobility ratio.
Findings
The authors found significant evidence that clients from different cultures are associated with varying profiles of complaint and different result types and that certain associations remain stable over time.
Originality/value
While many studies have analysed complaint behaviour in business-to-consumer contexts, there is a lack of research from an international business-business relations point of view, leaving questions virtually unexplored. Second, the last phases of supply chain management, specifically complaints management, have been undeveloped, limiting the cultural factor to the general scope of negotiation. In this vein, this paper compares different complaint profiles and results, comparing culturally different customers/distributors. Third, research has mostly referred to a single period, while this paper investigates two different periods of time for the same company (and their distributors) to analyse the relevance of the stability (or not) over time of the associations identified.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Disclosure statement: There is non-financial interest from the direct applications of this research. In this sense, the authors report there are no competing interests to declare.
Data availability statement: There is a data set associated with the paper that can be shared upon request.
Declaration: It must be noted that there are no competing interests to declare, and this paper has not received any funds.
Citation
Küster, I., Vila, N. and Kuster-Boluda, A. (2024), "Studying international complaints: a multicultural analysis across two time periods", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-01-2023-0052
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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