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Voice of the Customers: Local Trust Culture and Consumer Complaints to the CFPB

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  • RACHEL M. HAYES
  • FENG JIANG
  • YIHUI PAN

Abstract

We use complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to study the interplay between social norms and the effectiveness of consumer protection laws. We find that a higher level of trust in a given location is associated with a lower number of complaints filed against financial institutions in that location. Employing a difference‐in‐differences approach, we further find that, after the establishment of the CFPB, banks in low‐trust areas reduce fees charged to consumers more compared to banks in high‐trust areas. Our results suggest that the threat of consumer complaints to a government agency affects how banks treat their customers, and they shed light on the interaction between informal culture and formal institutions, as well as on stakeholders’ influence in corporate policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel M. Hayes & Feng Jiang & Yihui Pan, 2021. "Voice of the Customers: Local Trust Culture and Consumer Complaints to the CFPB," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 1077-1121, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:joares:v:59:y:2021:i:3:p:1077-1121
    DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12364
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    Cited by:

    1. Peiheng Gao & Ning Sun & Xuefeng Wang & Chen Yang & Riv{c}ardas Zitikis, 2023. "NLP-based detection of systematic anomalies among the narratives of consumer complaints," Papers 2308.11138, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    2. Wang, Yujie & Tsang, Albert & Xiang, Yi & Yan, Shuo, 2024. "How can regulators affect corporate social responsibility? Evidence from regulatory disclosures of consumer complaints in the U.S," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(1).
    3. Dou, Yiwei & Hung, Mingyi & She, Guoman & Wang, Lynn Linghuan, 2024. "Learning from peers: Evidence from disclosure of consumer complaints," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2).
    4. Dak-Adzaklo, Cephas Simon Peter & Wong, Raymond M.K., 2024. "Corporate governance reforms, societal trust, and corporate financial policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Yihui Pan & Elena S. Pikulina & Stephan Siegel & Tracy Yue Wang, 2022. "Do Equity Markets Care about Income Inequality? Evidence from Pay Ratio Disclosure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(2), pages 1371-1411, April.

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