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E‐complaining: a content analysis of an Internet complaint forum

L. Jean Harrison‐Walker (Assistant Professor of Marketing, The University of Houston‐Clear Lake, Houston, Texas, USA)

Journal of Services Marketing

ISSN: 0887-6045

Article publication date: 1 September 2001

7497

Abstract

The emergence of the Internet and its communication capabilities has given rise to a number of complaint sites that function as central forums for consumers to share their bad experiences with other consumers. Companies are reacting by adopting anti‐domain sites in an attempt to prevent the creation of such complaint forums. Data from one complaint forum are analyzed to identify the nature of the complaints, whether the complaints were initially voiced to contact personnel, what other attempts were made to resolve the problem, whether the Internet consumer complaint forum was the initial method used for complaining, the responsiveness of the company to non‐Internet complaints as well as Internet complaints, and the demographics of complainers using the Internet complaint forum. The suggestion is made that companies should embrace consumer complaints, and compete with the independent complaint forums (rather than try to block them) on the basis of ease of the complaint process and the likelihood of response. Recommendations are offered that are specific to Internet use and benefits to the company are described.

Keywords

Citation

Jean Harrison‐Walker, L. (2001), "E‐complaining: a content analysis of an Internet complaint forum", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 397-412. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005657

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited

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