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Events of 9/11/2001: Crisis and Consumer Dissatisfaction Response Styles

Authors

  • Heidi Rottier
  • Donna Hill
  • Jay Carlson
  • Mitch Griffin

Abstract

Research investigating customer complaining behavior has typically focused on the customer's reactions to a dissatisfying purchase. The current study focused on measuring - within three weeks - actual complaining behavior that occurred following purchase or non-purchase in an unusual or crisis situation (gas price gouging and the events of 9/11) and compared the types of complaining behaviors to the types of complaining behaviors reported by Singh (1990). Results indicate that complaining response styles are indeed different given such a situation. For example, the sample indicated a larger percentage of passives and voicers and a lower percentage of irates and activists than did the Singh (1990) study. In general, it would appear that an unusual or crisis situation does result in a different dissatisfaction response style.