Dissatisfiers and Satisfiers: Suggestions from Consumer Complaints and Compliments

Abstract

Consumer complaints and compliments have long been a source of feedback on market performance. Executives often use this customer feedback as an exception reporting mechanism to identify weaknesses to be corrected or strengths to be promoted. Although they are not likely to be representative of the customer's complete experience with a product or service, complaints and compliments do highlight those dimensions of a product or service about which customers really care. The fact that customers take the time to voice their dissatisfaction or satisfaction suggests the attributes are salient in the post-use evaluation process.