The differences in customer complaint behaviour between loyal customers and first comers in the retail banking industry

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the differences in customer complaint behaviour between loyal customers and first comers. Design/methodology/approach This study has adopted the work of Ndubisi and Ling, which categorized consumer complaint actions into public, private, defection and no action. Interview and survey data were collected. SPSS 15.0 for Windows was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics such as means, frequencies, Mann‐Whitney U test and chi‐square tests were calculated. Findings The results reveal that first comers are more willing to engage in private complaining actions such as negotiation and worth‐of‐mouth comments and telling friends and family about their bad experiences compared to loyal customers. Our major findings indicate that even if a first comer does not complain, this does not mean that the person is satisfied. As there is a likelihood that when a customer makes a private complaint, such as spreading negative word‐of‐mouth criticisms, bank managers should pay more attention to those customers. Further, first comers are more likely to take part in a defection by doing business with another firm following the bad experience compared to loyal customers. Originality/value It is a new study about the differences in customer complaint behaviour between loyal and first customers in Turkey. It presents valuable information that can assist bank managers and marketers understand the customer complaint behaviour of both loyal customers and first comers.