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Politeness matters: The antecedents and consequences of politeness in a complaint handling setting

Author

Listed:
  • Pierre-Nicolas Schwab
  • Laurence Rosier
  • Sandra Rothenberger

Abstract

Marketing scholars have used justice theory to investigate how consumers’ perceptions affect post-complaint satisfaction. Less attention has been given to how those perceptions are formed and what organizations should do to enhance them. This paper explores the concept of politeness, a component of interactional justice, in a complaint handling setting, with two complementary studies: a quantitative discourse analysis, and a survey. In study 1, the effects of 16 antecedents of politeness in a dataset of naturally occurring firms’ responses to customers’ complaints are investigated. Results show that Face-Threatening-Acts (FTAs) are better predictors of perceived politeness than antecedents previously used in marketing research. Study 2 explores the consequences of politeness with a survey demonstrating that politeness is positively correlated with repurchase intention and perceived firm professionalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre-Nicolas Schwab & Laurence Rosier & Sandra Rothenberger, 2015. "Politeness matters: The antecedents and consequences of politeness in a complaint handling setting," Working Papers CEB 15-011, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/197891
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robert Johnston & Adrian Fern, 1999. "Service Recovery Strategies for Single and Double Deviation Scenarios," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 69-82, April.
    2. Chebat, Jean-Charles & Slusarczyk, Witold, 2005. "How emotions mediate the effects of perceived justice on loyalty in service recovery situations: an empirical study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(5), pages 664-673, May.
    3. W. Sabadie & I. Prim-Allaz & S. Llosa, 2006. "Contribution des elements de gestion des reclamations a la satisfaction: les apports de la theorie de la justice," Post-Print hal-01822842, HAL.
    4. del Río-Lanza, Ana Belén & Vázquez-Casielles, Rodolfo & Díaz-Martín, Ana M, 2009. "Satisfaction with service recovery: Perceived justice and emotional responses," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 775-781, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Complaints; politeness; professionalism; theory of face; Grice’s maxims;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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