Relationship between Consumers Attitude toward Complaining and Demographic Characteristics: A Study of Indian Consumers

Abstract

Researchers and practitioners acknowledge that despite best efforts, product malfunction or service failures might occur. To retain a dissatisfied consumer, marketers appreciate the information that consumers provide in form of feedback or complaint. However, a worrisome aspect that emerged from the extant literature is that many dissatisfied consumers choose not to complain and silently exit. The objective of this study is to examine the differences in attitude toward complaining and its determinants (self confidence, self efficacy, risk taking, perceived control and cultural inhibitions) in terms of demographic factors (gender, age, education, income, occupation and marital status) and additionally to examine the interaction effects of demographic factors. The research uses five-point Likert scale-based survey data of 600 Indian consumers. Two-way ANOVA was performed as a research method. Results show that except gender all other demographic factors are creating difference in context of attitude toward complaining and its determinants.