Sometimes It's a Bad Idea to Let Customers Complain

Giving customers a chance to complain about a product can be a bad idea if they believe its failure was their fault. Research subjects who thought a food processor was to blame for their failure to make a mango smoothie rated the machine higher (4.02 versus 3 on a 9-point scale) after getting a chance to gripe to the company about it, but those who believed the failure was their fault rated the item lower (3.29 versus 4.31) after getting the same opportunity, say doctoral student Lea Dunn and Darren W. Dahl of the University of British Columbia. Because the effect was mitigated when participants were prompted to think about themselves positively, it might be beneficial for companies to frame requests for feedback in an affirmative manner, the researchers say.









Source: Harvard Business Publishing : Today's Management Tip was adapted from the Self-Threat and Product Failure: How Internal Attributions of Blame Affect Consumer Complaining Behavior



© Nick Kalikajaros 2019