Page 73 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Customer Relationship Management

Notes In other words, majority of customers who complained will continue to buy the product or
service, compared to those who are dissatisfied but do not bother to complain (Sheth, Mittal, &
Bruce, 1999). Buttle and Burton (2002) also stated that non-complainers were found to be the least
loyal customers, even more disloyal than complaining dissatisfied customers whose problems
were not resolved. For complaint customer, defection is often the last resort after complaint has
failed (Kim et al., 2003; Colgate & Hedge, 2001). So they will likely choose to stay after the
complaint is resolved. In other occasions, customer defection will increase in accordance with
complaint. According to Colgate and Hedge’s (2001) study, up to 80% of customers do make an
effort to complain to the bank prior to defect.
In relation to the Malaysians context, complaint style may likely be influenced by the people’s
lifestyle. Abdullah (1996) claimed that Malaysians are less forthright in expressing views and
opinions and giving negative feedback can be awkward and difficult as indirectness is the more
acceptable norm than directness in day to day behaviour. One of the consequences of this norm
is that it is more difficult for organizations to understand why customers are unhappy (Ndubisi&
Tam, 2005). As the choice of complaint style might differ across cultures, it is expected to find
some differences in the Malaysian consumer complaint behaviour.

Example: One would expect private complaint to be more strongly associated with
defection than public complaint, and defection to be higher among private complainants
compared to public complainants (Ndubisi & Tam, 2005). It is also logical to believe that Malaysian
customer might be more willing to engage in private complaint rather than public complaint
because a customer who chooses public complaint will have to confront the service provider
directly, which may not be deemed normative (Ndubisi& Tam, 2004). Customer complaint
behaviour can explain defection. Although both public and private complaints have significant
impact on defection, the strength of the impact produced by private complaint is greater than
that produced by public complaint. This indicates that among customers who defect, many are
unlikely to complain to the bank before leaving.
Those who will complain before leaving are in the minority. In other words, the likelihood of
customers complaining privately rather than publicly before defecting is higher. This result is
not moderated by the gender of the customer; instead it is a generic view of male and female
customers of Malaysian banks.
Irrespective of their sex type, they are generally less likely to complain to the bank before
defection. Ndubisi (2003a) had earlier shown that dissatisfied customers blame the company
when served poorly, and rather than complain directly to the company, they typically patronize
one another.
There are few implications of this study on customer management by banks in Malaysia.
Managers should recognize that zero complaint is not tantamount to customer satisfaction
because not all unsatisfied customers are likely to complain directly to the bank. They may
choose to complain to friends and family members instead. The fact that private complaint
explained defection better than public complaint shows that management may not know that
customers are dissatisfied until they defect from the bank. Moreover, the generic nature of this
result (without significant difference between men and women) indicates a strong consensus
and demands genuine efforts that are not gender discriminatory to forestall customers from
abandoning the organization without a word of caution.

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