Why customer complaints matter more than compliments for word-of-mouth?

Purpose This research aims to investigate the interaction between the causes of (dis)satisfaction and the presence of a complaint or compliment on customer word-of-mouth intentions. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative field study was conducted in the retail sector on 951 customers of a European retailer. The data was collected through a customer survey as part of a research partnership with the company. Word-of-mouth was measured using a three-item semantic scale adapted from previous research. Findings The relationship between causes (dis)satisfaction and word-of-mouth is moderated by the presence (absence) of a customer compliment or complaint. On the one hand, customers dissatisfied with the employee have lower word-of-mouth than customers dissatisfied with the product only when they do not leave a complaint. On the other hand, customers satisfied with the product or the employee have the same level of word-of-mouth whether they left a compliment or not. Originality/value A comparison between two causes of satisfaction and dissatisfaction (towards the employee and the product) is evaluated. Moreover, this research studies the moderating role of the presence of a customer compliment or a complaint. Whereas customer complaints have been widely studied in the literature, customer compliments have been seldom considered.