The behavioral consequences of the customer dissatisfaction

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the antecedents of the behavioral intentions of dissatisfied customers. Initially, the theoretical foundations are revised. After that, the methodology employed and the three research phases are presented. In the first, a qualitative one, 16 in depht interviews were made and gave origin to the instrument for data collection. In the second phase, the manipulation effectiveness of the controlled variable in the experimental research - dissatisfaction level - was qualitatively validated with 22 interviews. Finally, the questionnaire was applied to 480 undergraduate students. The results show that the impact of dissatisfaction level on the negative word-of-mouth communication and switch company intentions are high. In regarding to the complaint toward the company intention, the impact of the consumer's self-confidence is superior to the influence of the other variables. Attitude towards the act of complaining moderates the relationship between dissatisfaction intensity and complaint intention. These results supply academic and managerial implications to minimize the customer intentions to switch provider and to exert negative word-of-mouth communication and to increase the number of complaints and, therefore, the opportunities to remedy customers' problems.

Downloads