The psychological mechanism of complaining behavior

Abstract

Recently, consumer complaints and consumer claims have become a major social issue. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological mechanism of complaining behavior with reference to the theory of aggressive behavior in social psychology. Two hundred and fifteen participants (106 males, 109 females) who lived in Japan were asked to complete a questionnaire by the mail survey method. After a covariance structure analysis, the proposed model was found to fit the data very well. The main findings were as follows: (1) High levels of self-esteem and the self-control of emotion led to having a positive attitude for complaining behavior. (2) Attitudes toward complaining behavior and dissatisfaction with products had a direct effect on actual complaining behavior. Furthermore, dissatisfaction with products was affected by the differences between the expectations for products and the performances of products. (3) Complaining behavior led to a decrease in consumer dissatisfaction. This result indicated the existence of a "cathartic effect".