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This study investigates the effects of various organizational responses to complaints on post‐complaint customer behaviors. Specifically, the study investigates the effects of apology, atonement, promptness, facilitation, explanation, attentiveness and effort on complainant satisfaction and loyalty, and the association between satisfaction and loyalty. The study uses a sample of Turkish guests in the Northern Cyprus hotel industry. The hypothesized relationships are tested using LISREL 8.30 through path analysis. Results provide empirical support for ten of the 15 hypotheses examined. The path analysis reveals that apology, explanation, and effort are three organizational response options that exert significant positive effects on complainant satisfaction and loyalty. Empirical findings also suggest that effort appears to be the most influential organizational response affecting satisfaction and loyalty. Discussion of the results, implications, and limitations of the study are also presented.

This study seeks to provide an exploratory analysis of the level of satisfaction of citizens and police officers who participated in police complaint mediation. The New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board's mediation program served as the case sample.

A two‐page questionnaire, of multiple choice and open‐ended questions, was sent to the sample population (N=285) of officers and complainants who either had their cases mediated or fully investigated.

Complainants who participated in mediation were significantly more satisfied with the police complaint procedure, and the NYPD as a whole, than those whose cases were fully investigated. Two major areas of research concern also emerged from the data: a need for an analysis of the cases where complainants wish to avoid face‐to‐face meetings with subject officers, and a clarification of the expectations of mediation participants.

This study's low response rate (18.2 percent) warrants caution in generalizing the findings of this study. Another limitation to this research was the cross‐sectional survey design; a pre‐post survey design would better determine whether the sample bias existed.

This research helps to inform police and civilian oversight officials of the effectiveness of police complaint mediation. In addition, this study highlights areas which merit future investigation.

This paper is the first examination of the satisfaction of police complaint mediation participants in the United States. This research is helpful for police and civilian oversight administrators considering the establishment of such a program, or those seeking the improvement of an existing one.

This article explores understandings of and responses to anti‐social behaviour (ASB) among members of a local authority specialist ASB unit, and the perceptions and experiences of local citizens whose complaints had been dealt with by that unit. It suggests that ASB officers operate in a ‘space’ between the demands of policy makers and the needs of residents and communities. Whilst complainant satisfaction is a key indicator of performance, the way this is achieved is more varied than a simple reliance on enforcement.

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the effects of service recovery on customer satisfaction. Specifically, it examines the perception of “justice” in service recovery and how it affects the level of satisfaction and behavioral outcomes. In addition, the study also explores whether the “recovery paradox” exists.

Data were collected through a survey using a structured questionnaire. The 428 respondents were analyzed according to whether they did or did not make a complaint to the service providers.

The findings showed that the complainants' level of satisfaction with service recovery was significantly affected by perceived justice. The behavioral outcomes of the complainants in terms of trust, word‐of‐mouth (WOM) and loyalty were also found to be affected by their satisfaction with the service recovery. T‐tests confirmed that the levels of trust, WOM and loyalty were significantly higher for those respondents who were satisfied with the service recovery compared with those who were dissatisfied. Further t‐tests also indicated that respondents who were initially satisfied with the service expressed greater trust and positive WOM compared with the satisfied complainants. Finally, the study showed that dissatisfied complainants would exhibit a lower level of trust and were more likely to engage in negative word‐of‐mouth behavior compared with those who were dissatisfied initially but chose not to complain.

The findings in this paper confirmed the importance of perceived justice in service recovery. Satisfaction with service recovery also leads to a higher level of trust, positive word‐of‐mouth behavior and, to a lesser extent, the level of loyalty. Finally, the lack of support of the “recovery paradox” effect suggests that successful service recovery alone would not bring customer satisfaction to pre‐service failure levels. It is therefore essential to provide service right at the first time.

This is a new study on the service provided by mobile phone service providers in an Asian environment. It also reinforces the important of perceive justice in service recovery and debunks the existence of the “recovery paradox” effect.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the organizational recovery response to other‐customer failure influences the affected customer's level of satisfaction, unfavorable word‐of‐mouth (WOM), and repurchase intentions toward the firm.

Two experimental studies: 2 (complaint versus no complaint)×3 (employee effort (EE): high versus low versus no)×2 (compensation versus no compensation) were used to test the research hypotheses in a restaurant context.

In cases of other‐customer failure, the outcome valence (failure discontinues versus continues) influences how complainants and non‐complainants rate their perceptions of satisfaction and subsequent behavioral intentions toward the firm. Customers who perceive that there has been good EE made to help solve the problem of other‐customer failure give higher service evaluations than those who perceive little or no EE. Additionally, there are insignificant differences in the rating of satisfaction, repurchase intention, or negative WOM from customers in the latter group. Offering compensation is not a cure‐all. It has the strongest effect on non‐complainants in the low EE scenario.

Service managers need to design well‐balanced organizational recovery systems in terms of the outcome of recovery (i.e. compensation) and the way in which the recovery process is delivered (i.e. EE) to the affected customers in response to other‐customer failures. Since the influence of compensation on service evaluations is largely dependent on customer perceptions of employee‐effort, providing employees with the appropriate problem‐solving skills for working with both problem‐causing customers and the problem‐affected customers is a key issue for service marketers in cases of other‐customer failure.

The paper examines the importance of the as yet under‐researched issue of how organizational recovery responses to other‐customer failure influence a customer's service evaluations of the firm.

There is much empirical evidence showing that the satisfaction of complainants with a company’s response has enormous impact on the customers’ future behaviour. Therefore, it becomes necessary to fully understand the construct of complaint satisfaction. Moreover, recent research provides deep insights into the determinants and consequences of complaint satisfaction. The focus of this article is on the dimensional structure of this construct. On a conceptual basis, two dimensions of complaint satisfaction are differentiated: outcome complaint satisfaction and process complaint satisfaction. The results of an empirical study are presented, demonstrating the effects of both dimensions on overall complaint satisfaction, relationship satisfaction and repurchase intention. Additionally, factor analysis leads to the identification of two factors that can be interpreted as satisfaction dimensions: cold fact complaint satisfaction and warm act complaint satisfaction. Obviously, complainants differentiate between those quality attributes that can be evaluated on the basis of objective facts on the one hand, and those that lead to more emotional reactions.

This research examined the relationships among a number of outcomes of mediation. The sample consisted of 73 hearings at two dispute settlement centers in New York State. Predictions from goal achievement theory were contrasted with predictions from procedural justice theory. In accordance with goal achievement theory, disputants who attained their goals in the agreement indicated immediate satisfaction with that agreement and with the conduct of the hearing. However, goal achievement was unrelated to long‐run success or long‐run satisfaction with the agreement, a result which may apply primarily to the mediation of interpersonal disputes. The predictions from procedural justice theory were more successful. Disputants who perceived that the underlying problems had been aired, that the mediator had understood what they said and that they had received a fair hearing also showed immediate satisfaction with the agreement and with the conduct of the hearing. In addition, these and related perceptions—especially in the eyes of the respondent—were predictive of several aspects of long‐run success.

This paper aims to demonstrate that online complainants’ reactions to a company’s service recovery attempts (webcare) can significantly vary across two different types of dissatisfied customers (“vindictives” vs “constructives”), who have dramatically diverging complaint goal orientations.

Online multi-country survey among 812 adult consumers who recently had a dissatisfying brand experience and turned to a marketer-generated social media site to voice an online complaint for achieving their ultimate complaining goals. Scenario-based online experiment for cross-validating the survey findings.

Results suggest that “vindictive complainants” – driven dominantly by brand-adverse motives – are immune to any form of webcare, while “constructive complainants” – interested in restoring the customer-brand relationship – react more sensitively. For the latter, “no-responses” often trigger detrimental brand-related reactions (e.g. unfavorable brand image), whereas “defensive responses” are likely to stimulate post-webcare negative word-of-mouth.

This research identifies the gains and harms of (un-)desired webcare. By doing so, it not only sheds light on the circumstances when marketers have to fear negative effects (e.g. negative word-of-mouth) but also provides insights into the conditions when such effects are unlikely. While the findings of the cross-sectional survey are validated with an online experiment, findings should be interpreted with care as other complaining contexts should be further investigated.

Marketers have to expect a serious “backfiring effect” from an unexpected source, namely, consumers who were initially benevolent toward the involved brand but who received an inappropriate response.

This research is one of the first research studies that enables marketers to identify situations when webcare is likely to backfire on the brand after a service failure.

Effective complaint‐handling by an organization can result in such benefits as consumer satisfaction, company / brand loyalty, favorable word‐of‐mouth publicity and decreased litigation. Therefore, organizations should consider the application of strategic marketing concepts when establishing complaint‐handling policies. Alternative strategies are proposed and a model for formulating a complaint‐handling strategy is described.

The purpose of this paper is to explore hospital staff response to patient complaints and the factors influencing the response pathway.

The paper uses an exploratory study in a large Taiwanese hospital purposefully chosen as a case study site. The critical incident technique (CIT) is implemented, using a questionnaire along with non‐participant observations in which the results have been triangulated. A total of 59 cases were collected.

The study found when facing “humaneness” complaints, hospital staff attempted to investigate the event and then explain the facts to the complainant or empathise with him/her and then refer the problem to the relevant unit. In response to complaints combining “communication” and “care/treatment and humaneness”, staff tended to investigate the event's details and then directly explain them to the complainant. When complaints involved “care/treatment”, staff tended to empathise with the complainant, investigate the facts and explain them to the complainant. Additionally, the organisational response to complaints was influenced by who made complaints; its type, severity, complaining method and patient status.

The literature revealed that the case study is the most common organisational study method. However, this approach is criticised for not offering findings that can be generalised.

Complaint nature is the major factor influencing the response pathway. If healthcare managers intend to reduce complaint rates then they need to carefully classify the complaint's nature. Different complaints have different handling procedures and guidelines to help managers resolve complaints in the first place.

There are extensive studies focusing on investigating complaints and their resolution. These studies tend not to demonstrate various means of handling patient complaints. Neither do they describe how different complaints might lead to different outcomes. Therefore, this paper explores hospital staff response to patient complaints and the factors influencing the pathways in response to complaints.