Customer Retaliatory Complaining: An Extension of Customer Complaining Behaviour (CCB)

Customer complaining behaviour is universal and studies relating to it have received substantial attention over recent years. Customers expect fair treatment from service providers for the effort invested in the relationship. Perceived unfairness would make customers feel as though they have been betrayed. Hence, they are likely to express their dissatisfaction through complaining. In certain cases, they might also resort to exhibiting aggressive behaviour to compensate for the unfairness they experienced. This paper proposes a conceptual framework by investigating the effect of customer’s dissatisfied service experience attribution (DSEA) on aggressive complaining and its motivation in achieving fairness of treatment in a business relationship. Through a review of relevant literature on this topic, this paper attempts to conceptualise the framework of customer retaliatory complaining behaviour (CRCB). Understanding the implications could help service providers create more robust strategies to overcome negative consequences. Such an understanding is likely to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on how dissatisfaction can be dealt with effectively as empirical evidence could now be established on the importance of dealing with retaliatory behaviours in the service industry.