Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A meta-analysis of satisfaction with complaint handling in services

  • Original Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Academics as well as managers have long been interested in the role of satisfaction with complaint handling (SATCOM) in shaping customers’ attitudes and repurchasing decisions. This interest has generated a widespread belief that SATCOM is driven by the perception that the complaint handling process is just. To test how SATCOM is modulated by distributive, interactional, or procedural justice, we performed a meta-analysis of 60 independent studies of the antecedents and consequences of SATCOM. Results indicate that SATCOM is affected most by distributive justice, then by interactional justice, and only weakly by procedural justice. We also find that SATCOM mediates the effects of justice dimensions on word-of-mouth. However, contrary to common belief, SATCOM does not mediate the effects of justice dimensions on overall satisfaction and return intent. We draw on our results to suggest several avenues for further research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Correlation coefficients were adjusted with an attenuation factor calculated as the product of the square root of (1) the reliability of the independent variable, (2) the reliability of the dependent variable, and (3) the sample size (Hunter and Schmidt 2004). Cronbach’s alpha values of each study were used as an indicator of the reliability of dependent and independent variables. However, not all studies reported Cronbach’s alpha. When they were unavailable we used imputation procedures (Becker 1992), and we imputed reliably from studies that were as similar as possible to those with missing data. However, the great majority of the studies reported Cronbach’s alpha, only 3% presented missing values. The average Cronbach’s alpha coefficients are: 0.87 for SATCOM, 0.91 for distributive justice, 0.89 for interactional justice, 0.87 for procedural justice, 0.89 for return intent, 0.90 for WOM, and 0.88 for overall satisfaction.

  2. We asked authors for the correlation matrix whenever this information was not reported in the studies. In case of non-response, we imputed correlations from similar studies (Becker 1992). Three studies (Chung 2006, Lapidus and Pinkerton 1995, and Brown et al. 1996) were dropped because of lack of correlation coefficients and unavailability of enough information to perform a meaningful imputation.

  3. One was built using all available adjusted correlation coefficients, the other using only the effect sizes coming from a reduced set of homogeneous studies, i.e., only those studies that contained jointly all the constructs included in the causal model. The aim of this analysis is to test whether the two matrices are homogeneous and can be pooled (see Brown and Peterson 1993, Appendix, for a similar approach). We tested the equivalence between the two matrices through a two-group confirmatory factor analysis. Since the test indicated that the complete adjusted average correlations were equivalent (χ2 = 28.18, p = 0.14, CFI = 1.00, TLI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.031, RMSR = 0.02), in the second step we used the complete adjusted average correlation matrix.

References

  • Ambrose, M., Hess, R. H., & Ganesan, S. (2007). The relationship between justice and attitudes: an examination of justice effects on event and system-related attitudes. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 103, 21–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, E. W. (1998). Customer satisfaction and word of mouth. Journal of Service Research, 1(1), 5–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andreassen, T. W. (2000). Antecedents to satisfaction with service recovery. European Journal of Marketing, 34(1/2), 156–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, B. J. (1992). Using results from replicated studies to estimate linear models. Journal of Educational Statistics, 17(4), 341–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bies, R. J., & Moag, J. S. (1986). Interactional Justice: Communication Criteria of Fairness. In R. J. Lewicky, B. H. Sheppard, & M. H. Bazerman (Eds.), Research on Negotiation in Organizations. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, (1) 43–55.

  • Blodgett, J. G., Hill, D. J., & Tax, S. S. (1993). The effects of perceived justice on complainants’ negative word-of-mouth behaviour and repatronage intentions. Journal of Retailing, 69(4), 339–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blodgett, J. G., Hill, D. J., & Tax, S. S. (1997). The effect of distributive, procedural and interactional justice on postcomplaint behavior. Journal of Retailing, 73(2), 185–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boshoff, C. (1997). An experimental study of service recovery options. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 8(2), 110–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S. P., & Peterson, R. A. (1993). Antecedents and consequences of salesperson job satisfaction: meta-analysis and assessment of causal effects. Journal of Marketing Research, 30(1), 63–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S. W., Cowles, D. L., & Tuten, T. L. (1996). Service recovery: its value and its limitations as a retail strategy. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 7(5), 32–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnett, J. J., & Dunne, P. M. (1986). An appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketing research. Journal of Business Research, 14(4), 329–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, C. A., & Windmeijer, F. A. G. (1997). An R-squared measure of goodness of fit for some common nonlinear regression models. Journal of Econometrics, 77, 329–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, C.-C. (2006). When service fails: the role of the salesperson and the customer. Psychology and Marketing, 23(3), 203–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clemmer, E. C., & Schneider, B. (1996). Fair service. In T. A. Swartz, D. E. Bowen, & S. W. Brown (Eds.), Advances in services marketing and management. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, (2)13–229.

  • Colquitt, J. A., Conlon, D. E., Wesson, M. J., Porter, C. O. L. H., & Ng, Y. K. (2001). Justice at the millennium: a meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 425–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dash, S., Bruning, E., & Guin, K. K. (2006). The moderating effect of power distance on perceived interdependence and relationship quality in commercial banking: a cross-cultural comparison. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 24(5), 307–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidow, M. (2000). The bottom line impact of organizational response to customer complaints. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 24(4), 473–490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidow, M. (2003). Organizational response to customer complaints: what works and what doesn’t. Journal of Service Research, 5(3), 225–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farley, J. U., Lehmann, D., & Sawyer, A. (1995). Empirical marketing generalization using meta-analysis. Marketing Science, 14(3), 36–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • File, K. M., Cermak, D. S. P., & Prince, R. A. (1994). Word-of-mouth effects in professional services buyer behavior. The Service Industries Journal, 14(3), 301–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C., & Wernerfelt, B. (1987). Defensive marketing strategy by customer complaint management: a theoretical analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 24(4), 337–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geyskens, I., Steenkamp, J.-B., & Kumar, N. (1998). Generalizations about trust in marketing channel relationships using meta-analysis. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 15(3), 223–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geyskens, I., Krishnan, R., Steenkamp, J.-B., & Cunha, P. V. (2009). A review and evaluation of meta-analysis practices in management research. Journal of Management, 35(2), 393–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, K. E., Grewal, D., Mohr, L. A., & Bernhardt, K. L. (2006). Consumer responses to service recovery strategies: the moderating role of online versus offline environment. Journal of Business Research, 59(4), 425–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1997). Cultures and organizations: Softwares of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holloway, B. B., Wang, S., & Parish, J. T. (2005). The role of cumulative online purchasing experience in service recovery management. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 19(3), 54–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Homans, G. C. (1961). Social behavior: Its elementary forms. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.

    Google Scholar 

  • Homburg, C., & Fürst, A. (2005). How organizational complaint handling drives customer loyalty: an analysis of the mechanistic and organic approach. Journal of Marketing, 69(3), 95–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, J.-H., Huang, C.-T., & Wu, S. (1996). National character and response to unsatisfactory hotel service. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 15(3), 229–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, J. E., & Schmidt, F. L. (2004). Methods of meta-analysis. correcting error and bias in research findings. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iacobucci, D. (2008). Mediation analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam, S. Y., Shankar, V., Erramilli, M. K., & Murthy, B. (2004). Customer value, satisfaction, loyalty, and switching costs: an illustration from a business-to-business service context. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 32(3), 293–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lapidus, R. S., & Pinkerton, L. (1995). Customer complaint situations: an equity theory perspective. Journal of Psychology and Marketing, 12(2), 105–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liao, H. (2007). Do it right this time: the role of employee service recovery performance in customer-perceived justice and customer loyalty after service failures. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 475–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lind, A. E., & Tyler, T. R. (1988). The social psychology of procedural justice. New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacInnis, D. J., & Price, L. L. (1987). The role of imagery in information processing: review and extensions. Journal of Consumer Research, 13, 473–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattila, A. S., & Patterson, P. G. (2004). Service recovery and fairness perceptions in collectivist and individualist contexts. Journal of Service Research, 6(4), 336–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxham, J. G., III. (2001). Service recovery’s influence on consumer satisfaction, positive word-of-mouth, and purchase intentions. Journal of Business Research, 54, 11–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxham, J. G., III, & Netemeyer, R. G. (2002). Modelling customers perceptions of complaint handling over time: the effects of perceived justice on satisfaction and intent. Journal of Retailing, 78(4), 239–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxham, J. G., III, & Netemeyer, R. G. (2003). Firms reap what they sow: the effects of shared values and perceived organizational justice on customers’ evaluations of complaint handling. Journal of Marketing, 67(1), 46–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McFarlin, D., & Sweeney, P. (2001). Cross-cultural applications of organizational justice. In R. Cropanzano (Ed.), Justice in the workplace: From theory to practice (pp. 67–96). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Association of Consumer Agency Administration. (2005). Thirteenth Annual NACCA/CFA Consumer Complaint Survey Report.

  • Oliver, R. L. (1980). A cognitive model of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions. Journal of Marketing Research, 24(11), 460–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, R. L. (1997). Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the consumer. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parasuraman, A. (2006). Modelling opportunities in service recovery and customer managed interactions. Marketing Science, 25(6), 590–593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, W. C., & Lessig, P. V. (1977). Students and housewives: differences in susceptibility to reference group influence. Journal of Consumer Research, 4(2), 102–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, P. G., Cowley, E., & Prasongsukarn, K. (2006). Service failure recovery: the moderating impact of individual-level, cultural value orientation on perceptions of justice. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 23(3), 263–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pizzi, G., Forti, E., Pareschi, L., & Orsingher, C. (2008). Antecedents and consequences of service recovery process in experimental studies: A meta-analysis. EMAC Conference Proceedings, 27–30 May, Brighton, UK.

  • Reimann, M., Lunemann, U. F., & Chase, R. B. (2008). Uncertainty avoidance as a moderator of the relationship between perceived service quality, and customer satisfaction. Journal of Services Research, 11(1), 63–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, R. (1991). Meta-analytic procedures for social research. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, R. (1995). Writing meta-analytic reviews. Psychological Bulletin, 118(2), 183–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, B., & Bowen, D. E. (1993). The service organization: human resources management is crucial. Organizational Dynamics, 21(4), 39–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seiders, K., & Berry, L. L. (1998). Service fairness: what it is and why it matters. The Academy of Management Executive, 12(2), 8–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Severt, D. E. (2002). The customer’s path to loyalty: A partial test of the relationships of prior experience, justice, and customer satisfaction. Ph.D. dissertation. Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg.

  • Smith, A. K., & Bolton, R. N. (2002). The effect of customers’ emotional responses to service failures on their recovery effort evaluations and satisfaction judgments. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30(1), 5–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. K., Bolton, R. N., & Wagner, J. (1999). A model of customer satisfaction with service encounter involving failure and recovery. Journal of Marketing Research, 36, 356–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soares, A. M., Farhangmehr, M., & Shoham, A. (2007). Hofstede’s dimensions of culture in international studies. Journal of Business Research, 60(3), 277–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobel M. E. (1982). Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. Sociological Methodology, 13, 290–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spreng, R. A., Harrell, G. D., & Mackoy, R. D. (1995). Service recovery: impact on satisfaction and intentions. Journal of Services Marketing, 9(1), 15–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stauss, B. (2002). The dimensions of complaint satisfaction: process and outcome complaint satisfaction versus cold fact and warm act complaint satisfaction. Managing Service Quality, 12(3), 173–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szymanski, D. M., & Henard, D. H. (2001). Customer satisfaction: a meta-analysis of the empirical evidence. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 29, 16–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tax, S. S., Brown, S. W., & Chandrashekaran, M. (1998). Customer evaluations of service complaint experiences: implications for relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 62(2), 60–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeithaml, V. A., Parasuraman, A., & Berry, L. L. (1990). Delivering quality service: Balancing customer perceptions and expectations. New York: The Free Press Division of Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the editor, David W. Stewart, and the four anonymous JAMS reviewers for their insightful critiques of this manuscript. In addition the authors thank Gian Luca Marzocchi for his suggestions on previous versions of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, University of Bologna, Via Capo di Lucca, 34, 40126, Bologna, Italy

    Chiara Orsingher

  2. Department of Management, University of Bologna, Via Capo di Lucca, 34, 40126, Bologna, Italy

    Sara Valentini

  3. Luiss Guido Carli University, Viale Pola, 12, 00198, Rome, Italy

    Matteo de Angelis

Authors
  1. Chiara Orsingher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sara Valentini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Matteo de Angelis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chiara Orsingher.

Additional information

The complete list of studies included in the meta-analysis is available from the authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Orsingher, C., Valentini, S. & de Angelis, M. A meta-analysis of satisfaction with complaint handling in services. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 38, 169–186 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-009-0155-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-009-0155-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation