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Most of the research on children’s consumer behavior focuses on pre-purchase processes, with brand choice typically being the last stage investigated. This paper aims to examine the outcome of children’s purchase decisions, with an emphasis on dissatisfaction and outcome resolution. Of particular interest was the comprehension level of the corporate communication and the extent to which clear, understandable communication influenced children’s ultimate satisfaction.

Eighty-seven children wrote authentic letters of complaint to manufacturers about a recent product purchase. The study examined what happened after the children complained – i.e. how companies responded to children, and how satisfied children were with the resolution and the overall complaint handling process. Two widely regarded readability formulas were used to measure the complexity of the written correspondence.

The present study suggests that child complainants are the most concerned with the bottom-line results of their communication efforts. Like adults, they want the problem corrected. Unfortunately, the majority of children did not feel fully satisfied with the corporate complaint handling process. Over one-third of the companies in the sample did not even bother to respond to children’s legitimate complaints, despite the fact that each child specifically asked the company to write back. Those firms which did were more likely to respond with a letter only than with a letter plus add-on. And the corporate letters, by and large, were written at an educational level which would preclude full understanding by the child.

Because consumer complaint behavior is not randomly distributed in the population, the use of probability sampling was precluded. Published studies which have used consumer complaint letters as the data collection method have relied primarily on convenience sampling. In the present study, judgmental sampling was used to select children participants. Three criteria were applied. Children had to be aged between 10 and 13 years. Children had to have experienced dissatisfaction with a product purchase made over the previous six months. Children could not have taken any public action to resolve their dissatisfaction. But they had to be willing to write a letter of complaint at this point. It was considered of utmost importance that the letters used in this study be authentic. They had to be composed and penned by the children themselves. This criterion, coupled with the fact that the complaints were legitimate, avoided the obvious ethical dilemma associated with the use of fabricated letters.

It seems ironic that in the present era of consumer consciousness, corporations do not place greater emphasis on truly communicating with their customers, where communication is viewed as a process of establishing shared meaning. How can there be shared meaning when the message sender fails to consider the characteristics of the receiver – characteristics such as age and cognitive development? Businesses may argue that their corporate communication policies and practices are based on a concern for cost efficiency. This argument carries little merit, unfortunately. Even the federal government, through the Plain Writing Act of 2010, acknowledges the importance of using common, everyday words and plain English in all written documents.

On the surface, American businesses state that they welcome customer feedback. The comments of children are more sought after now than ever before, particularly in the area of advertising and new product development. But the results of this study show that companies have a long way to go before they can claim to be truly receiver-oriented in their managerial communication policies. Perhaps this is why consumers – certainly child consumers – are only beginning to believe that when kids complain, companies will respond.

The vast body of complaint research focuses almost exclusively on adults. Despite their sophistication and marketing literacy, children are not miniature adults. It is not known whether the same models and findings with respect to adult complaint behavior apply to children. Unfortunately, there are very few studies of children’s complaint behavior and corporate responses.

This paper aims to examine the most important antecedents of customer loyalty in business-to-business (B2B) context using European Customer Satisfaction Index (ECSI) model.

A questionnaire is designed consisting of measures of customer loyalty gathered mainly from previous related studies. A survey of business customers in construction and mining equipment industry in Iran is conducted, and a total of 90 responses are obtained. The collected data are analyzed according to the structural equation modeling technique using partial least square path modeling software.

The ECSI model shows sufficient explanatory power in explaining loyalty in the B2B context. Adding trust to the original model leads to a better explanation of loyalty in the proposed model. In this model, corporate image is the main route to predict loyalty, while satisfaction, complaint handling and trust also are important. Although there is no direct effect of perceived quality, perceived value and expectation on loyalty, their total impact is considerable which is mediated through satisfaction.

The research should be expanded to other B2B sectors to validate its findings in different industries. Future research can also assess the impact of moderating variables.

Most previous customer loyalty models concern business-to-consumer (B2C) rather than the B2B context. Moreover, research examining the suitability of the ECSI model in B2B is scarce. This paper addresses these shortcomings by examining a holistic customer loyalty model which incorporates some overlooked constructs as corporate image, expectation and complaint handling from the ECSI model. The proposed model, also adds trust which is not incorporated in national indices despite its importance in predicting loyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the ISO 10002: 2004 standard from the perspective of its context within the ISO 10001/2/3 triad of customer satisfaction complaint system and ISO 9001 quality management system standards, its complaints handling content, and the standard's applicability in a public electrical utility.

A summary of the ISO 10001/2/3 standards is presented, followed by a more detailed analysis of ISO 10002: 2004 and its possible integration with ISO 9001: 2000. Subsequently, a demonstration of how ISO10002: 2004 compares to the case study electrical utility's complaints‐handling system is provided.

ISO 10001/2/3 can guide organisations in preventing customer dissatisfaction as well as in resolving complaints within and outside the organisations' borders. Results of the gap analysis between ISO 10002: 2004 and the electrical utility's complaints handling system showed major opportunities for improving the overall system, looking beyond merely addressing individual complaints.

Only one organisation was studied and ISO 10002: 2004 was less than a month old at the time. Quality management researchers will see opportunities for further investigation into the application of ISO 10001/2/3 and how these standards can augment quality management systems, particularly those based upon ISO 9001: 2000.

The presented discussion on an internationally‐standardized complaint‐handling system gives practitioners in the energy and other industries an incentive to study and apply ISO 10002: 2004.

The paper is a pioneering effort in applying ISO 10002: 2004 to an actual organisation. Furthermore, the links shown between complaints handling and quality management will open up new avenues for research in the area of the integration of standardized management systems.

Suggests that theories of procedural fairness can offer insights into the effectiveness of complaint‐handling strategies. Discusses complaint‐handling strategies, equity theory, distributive fairness, procedural fairness, interactional fairness and how marketers can best satisfy complainers. Concludes that firms need to have complaints procedures which consumers feel treat them fairly; which involves appearing genuinely responsive, rather than offer apologies by rote.

States how marketers have been traditionally advised to allow unhappy customers to voice their opinions freely, offering apologies. Suggests that theories of procedural fairness such as equity theory can provide understanding of the effectiveness of such complaint‐handling strategies. Argues that an apology cannot compensate for lack of a tangible outcome such as a refund. Concludes with a consideration of how marketers may be able to satisfy their complainers more effectively.

The aim of this article is to describe and analyze the legal issues of enforcement for corporate governance in Vietnam, focusing primarily on constraints that are faced by companies. And subsequent recommendations to Vietnam's policy makers are raised. In support of working out a legal framework on enforcement of corporate governance, the article has initially focused on assessment of the enforcement for corporate governance in Vietnam. The theoretical framework is that of OECD Principles of Corporate Governance (April 1999, Paris). Furthermore, this article briefly raises some relevant impacts by corporate governance enforcement on compliance with best standards of corporate governance. The article also addresses current impediments on enforcement of corporate governance. It is concluded that enforcement of corporate governance requires making the legal framework perfect to assist inspectors with enforcement of corporate governance; and improvements on the legal framework to enhance the capacity of implementing officials is a need.

This study investigates the moderating role of complaint handling between ideological incompatibility, symbolic incongruity, negative past experience and corporate social irresponsibility on brand hate.

The study employs the Duplex Hate theory which assumes that hate is the manifestation of multiple factors. A survey-based self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 400 smartphone users at Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.

The findings suggest that ideological incompatibility, symbolic incongruity, negative past experience and corporate social irresponsibility contributes to brand hate. The complaint handling (moderator) weakens the effects of ideological incompatibility and symbolic incongruity on brand hate.

The research provides insights into the cancel culture and clarifies how brand hate can be controlled.

Empirical study on the antecedents of brand hate remains insufficient. The current study contributes to the brand hate literature by providing an understanding of the phenomenon of brand hate and by empirically examining the different antecedents responsible for causing the behavior. The study has also provided an additional determinant of brand hate, which is corporate social irresponsibility. The role of moderators for controlling brand hate is greatly ignored in the existing literature. The current work also extends previous studies by investigating a moderating factor for reducing brand hate, which is complaint handling.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and test a construct of perceived justice and its DIP‐dimensions (i.e. distributive, interactional, and procedural) in the context of both the consumers' initial negative service experiences' and the following processes of complaint handling. The objective is also to investigate similarities and differences of perceived justice in negative service experiences and complaint handling, and the validity of the constructs over time.

A triangular approach is used, based upon interviews and a survey in the Norwegian tourism industry. This paper reports on the results from a survey consisting of 3,104 customers. Comparative and confirmatory testing of perceived justice during the initial service encounter and subsequent complaint‐handling process has been performed.

The DIP‐dimensions of the construct of perceived justice in the service encounters tested have indicated a satisfactory fit, validity, and reliability.

The empirical findings provide a seed for future research to refine and extend corporate endeavors in managing critical incidents of both service encounters and service recovery.

Strategies to manage the perceived justice in negative service encounters and complaint handling should aim at managing the DIP‐dimensions of negative incidents in service encounters.

The DIP‐construct brings together, complements and fortifies existing theory and previous research in the context of justice in service encounters and complaint handling. Addressing both pre‐ and post‐complaint processes provides a complementary contribution to the field in focus.

A number of factors, including market competitiveness, the legal framework and increasing consumer expectations, are causing a focus on customer service of which complaint handling is a major part. Companies can accrue considerable advantages from taking complaint handling seriously, e.g. use of complaint data at strategic as well as operational level, reduced likelihood of legal proceedings, improved marketing intelligence, increased brand loyalty and internal marketing benefits. One of the most efficient ways of improving complaint handling is to computerize the process. Discusses some advantages of this and briefly describes one system already used by many companies.

For many, quality circles have been a struggle, total quality management has been something to “get around to one day” and continuous improvement has just been another expression meaning total quality management, which, of course is something that we will “get around to one day”. Worse, the acronyms used ‐ QC, TQM, CI ‐ have joined such exotic practices as JIT (Just‐in‐Time inventory), CAD‐CAM (computer‐aided development and manufacturing) and more recently BPR (business process re‐engineering) in an alphabet soup of consultant‐led packages, available to the discerning manager ‐ at a price.