Personal, Cognitive, and Emotive Antecedents of Consumers' Choices Regarding Complaint Messages

Things can go wrong in business transactions, and when this happens it can lead to consumer complaints. Though service recovery is an important part of organizations' ability to satisfy customers, consumers play an important role insofar as the way they communicate with offending companies may influence their outcomes. In this study, 255 participants reported what they said when complaining to a company after an organizational failure. Data were collected on their personalities, cognitions, and emotions during the interaction. Results indicated that participants' personalities played little role in predicting complaint messages whereas the severity of the failure, investment in the organization, alternatives, and emotions played a larger role.