Comparing Chinese and American attitudes towards complaining

Purpose – The current research aims to explore the possible effects of attitude towards complaining (ATC) on intention to remain loyal to hotels and to compare Chinese and American ATC in this perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The sample of the study consisted of Chinese and American graduate students, who were selected through the non‐probability convenience sampling technique. A total of 1,822 questionnaires were found to be useful and data from these questionnaires were tested through SPSS and LISREL statistical software. Findings – Findings indicate that culture clearly affects ATC and general intention to stay loyal which suggests that practitioners should consider the cultural background of their customers while designing and implementing their service recovery systems. Results show that Chinese respondents tend to forgive and forget failures, whereas Americans seek a remedy from third parties. Research limitations/implications – Only relationships between ATC and loyalty were investigated in this research; thus inclusion of other dimensions would provide further insights. Although the use of student sample and scenario is well‐justified and a common practice, future studies may consider collecting data from actual tourists. Data analyzed in this research were cross‐sectional and collected using convenience sampling; future studies may use random sampling and consider conducting longitudinal research. Originality/value – There is a paucity of cross‐cultural research investigating ATC. China and America's current and potential significance in global tourism is undeniable. Moreover, they are ideal examples of their respective culture clusters; thus studying Chinese and American ATC provides significant insights for both industry practitioners and academics.