Exploring the Effects of Consumers′ Dissatisfaction Level on Complaint Behaviours

The level of consumer satisfaction (CS), dissatisfaction (CD) and complaint behaviours (CCB) is beginning to receive increased attention from practitioners and researchers. Most studies, however, have tended to investigate the cause and/or effects of (dis)satisfaction or complaint behaviours. Relatively less work has been done to understand the relationship between dissatisfaction (CD) and complaint behaviours (CCB). This relationship is examined expirically. From a critical evaluation of previous research, hypotheses for the non‐linear relationship and the moderating role for CD and CCB are developed for an exploratory study. Using data on banking and financial services dissatisfaction, these hypotheses are investigated empirically. The results suggest that CD plays a broad and pervasive role (i.e. linear, on‐linear, moderator) depending upon the CCB dimension considered. Several implications of the results for managers are discussed and guidelines for dissatisfaction management are provided.