e-Consumer Complaints about On-line Stores

Abstract

The development of the Internet has created a more efficient means for consumers to gather product information, compare prices, and make purchases at any time and from anywhere. The number of Internet users who are shopping on-line steadily increases. The number of consumers who complain about on-line shopping also increases. Since Internet shopping is still in its infancy, it becomes necessary to detect the consumer complaint areas in order to guarantee the welfare of both on-line business and on-line consumers. This paper examines a) the distribution of complaints according to on-line business type, b) the distribution of complaints according to on-line store type, c) the major complaint themes, d) the distribution of complaint themes according to on-line store types, and e) the categorisation of complaint themes. A total of 4019 on-line complaint letters collected from complaint web sites are content analysed, eleven complaint categories are identified, and their percentage distribution is presented. The majority of complaints are about ISPs, followed by on-line stores and on-line services, respectively. Further, it is found that consumer complaint themes show variety across different on-line store types.