Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

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CROSS-CULTURAL CONSUMER COMPLAINING

BEHAVIOR IN SERVICE INDUSTRIES: A THREE-
NATION STUDY ACROSS THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

Tony L. Henthorne, Alvin J. Williams & Babu P. George

To cite this article: Tony L. Henthorne, Alvin J. Williams & Babu P. George (2018) CROSS-
CULTURAL CONSUMER COMPLAINING BEHAVIOR IN SERVICE INDUSTRIES: A THREE-
NATION STUDY ACROSS THE AFRICAN DIASPORA, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice,
26:4, 431-446, DOI: 10.1080/10696679.2018.1488220

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.2018.1488220

Published online: 24 Oct 2018.

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 CROSS-CULTURAL CONSUMER COMPLAINING BEHAVIOR IN SERVICE
INDUSTRIES: A THREE-NATION STUDY ACROSS THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
Tony L. Henthorne, Alvin J. Williams, and Babu P. George

Using social identification theory, the current research examines complaining behavior of services
consumers of African descent in Brazil, South Africa, and the United States. The common trait of
African ancestry and its association with the types of responses to dissatisfied marketplace experi-
ences, including no action, informal action, or more formal complaint behaviors is explored.
Findings indicate that country of residence differences interact with the common African ancestral
trait, resulting in an assorted range of complaint-related responses. Finally, implications for market-
ing concept and practice are discussed.

For a variety of reasons, consumers react differently to
unsatisfactory service experiences. While some consumers
engage in complaining behavior, others may simply
spread negative word-of-mouth (without ever complain-
ing to the service provider), while others may never return
to the service provider. At the far extreme, some consu-
mers may even consider revenge. George, Salgaonkar and
Hegde (2007) introduced the construct of Service Recovery
Satisfaction (SERICSAT), which captured satisfaction with
complaint management in terms of justice involved in the
procedure, interaction, and outcome of managing com-
plaints. In their study, it was proposed that cultural nuan-
ces play key roles in the relative importance of these
elements of justice. Zourrig, Chebat and Toffoli (2009), in
a study of cross-cultural perspectives on consumer revenge
behavior, found that differences in cultural orientation
influenced how harmed consumers responded to dissatis-
faction. Accordingly, cultural factors are included in the
current study as being contributing variables to the out-
come of consumer dissatisfaction. Cultural values and
nuances shape the foundational milieu that influences
Tony L. Henthorne (Ph.D., University of Mississippi),
Professor of Hospitality Marketing, William F. Harrah
College of Hotel Administration, University of Nevada, Las
Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, tony.henthorne@unlv.edu
Alvin J. Williams (Ph.D., University of Arkansas),
Distinguished Professor of Marketing, Mitchell College of
Business, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, awil-
liams@southalabama.edu
Babu P. George (DBA, Swiss Management Center University),
Associate Professor of Business, Fort Hays State University,
Hays, KS, bpgeorge@fhsu.edu
Funding for this project was provided in part by Caesars
Foundation.
profoundly the behavioral expressions resulting from con-
sumer dissatisfaction.
Interestingly, consumer-complaining behaviors
(CCB) across cultures have only been examined from
a cursory view. Researchers have not devoted sufficient
effort to better understand the cross-cultural dimen-
sions of consumer complaining behavior. Given the
expansion in market globalization and the ever-increas-
ing complexity of global markets, it is imperative to
better understand differences and similarities across
groups. Cross-cultural research in CCB has been
encouraged by a number of researchers (e.g., Lui and
McClure 2001; Nimako and Mensah 2012; Wan 2013;
Watkins and Liu 1996). For example, Liu and McClure
(2001) focus on the importance of understanding CCB
in the non-western cultural orientation. Similarly,
Nimako and Mensah (2012) concentrated their work
on African cultures, while Ngai, Heung, Wong and
Chan (2007) found complaining behavior differed by
age and cultural variations (Asian vs. non-Asian). A
general takeaway from these works is that all cultures
are in some ways different from others, thus furthering
the importance of research to help bridge the existing
breaks in our knowledge of cross-cultural complaining
behavior.
Therefore, given the research gaps in cross-cultural
consumer complaining behavior, the current research
examines CCB within the specific context of service
industries. The assumption of some ethnic behavioral
overlaps across these three cultures may lead to similar
behaviors following disconfirmation of expectations
from service encounters in the hospitality industry.
The current study is the first to clearly examine levels
of consumer dissatisfaction and complaining behavior

Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, vol. 26, no. 4 (Fall 2018), pp. 431–446.
Copyright Ó Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1069–6679 (print) / ISSN 1944–7175 (online)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.2018.1488220
432 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice
involving a range of the African diaspora. Consumers
of African descent in South Africa, Brazil, and the
United States are compared regarding the type, extent,
justification, and the results of complaining behavior
expressed following some level of dissatisfaction with
services in a broad range of service organizations. The
study examines CCB differences across cultural sectors,
including the nature of dissatisfaction and resulting
CCB, types of post-purchase actions undertaken and
the underlying rationales, the intensity of the
responses, and the foci of the complaints (product,
personnel, process, situation, etc.).
This work progresses first with the establishment of
the theoretical foundation. This foundation serves as
the basis for the research problem and the develop-
ment of hypotheses. The study and findings are next
presented, before turning to a detailed discussion of the
results and their potential meaning to and impact on
the cross-cultural complaining literature.
BACKGROUND
Consumer behavior in the event of dissatisfactory ser-
vice encounters is a function of the psychological con-
tract between the buyer and the seller (Turnley and
Feldman 1999). These psychological contracts are
implicit, unwritten codes containing expectations that
are embedded in the cultural context guiding the
buyer–seller relationship. Different cultural contexts
will imply different responses for the same dissatisfac-
tory experience. Assuming the African diaspora in
South Africa, Brazil, and the United States share some
commonalities emanating from a common sociocul-
tural heritage, there is some expectation that responses
to dissatisfaction in the marketplace may at least be
informed by these similarities. Theoretical support for
the assumption of similarities across African-descended
exemplars is grounded in social identification theory.
Tajfel and Turner (1986) assert that in addition to an
individual’s self-concept, there is also a social identity
consisting of important group characteristics that may
be demographic, such as race and gender or based on
membership in some group. The social identification is
the composite of perceptions associated with belonging
to a group that allows the individual to identify with
the group. There is a sense of “belongingness” or “one-
ness” attached to group membership. More specifically,
Tajfel (1982) defines social identity as “that part of the
individuals’ self-concept which derives from their
knowledge of their membership of a social group (or
groups) together with the value and emotional signifi-
cance of that membership.” Further, Bhattachaarya,
Hayagreeva, and Glynn (1995) offer supplementary
support for social identification in their work on the
bond of identification as it relates to marketing strat-
egy. Thus, social identification theory provides a con-
ceptual basis on which to accept the assumption that
some ethnic behavioral overlaps across these three cul-
tures may lead to similar behaviors following disconfir-
mation of expectations from personal encounters in
the service industries. While not the focus of the cur-
rent article, Walsh (2009) uses social identification the-
ory in research on minority consumers’ experiences of
marketplace discrimination in services. Walsh’s 2009
study adds credence to the use of social identification
in research related to minority consumers of services.
Parallel concepts that offer additional insight regard-
ing the appropriateness of social identification theory for
this study are social categorization and social comparison
(Tajfel 1982). Individuals categorize people to facilitate
with identification and understanding of the group. By
categorizing, we classify individuals according to expec-
tations and typical behavior usually associated with the
group. Following categorization within groups, social
comparisons occur where the in-group is compared
with the out-group, which reinforces group identity. On
balance, the concept of social identity and its associated
components offer a strong conceptual basis from which
to launch the current research. The concept of African-
ness, a core tenet of this article, is consistent with the
criteria for social identity as a group.
While responses to dissatisfaction may not be identi-
cal across these three cultures, it is important to explore
the degree or extent of the similarities and dissimilari-
ties. Prior research supports the notion that global cul-
tural environmental differences and variations in
individual behavior are linked to unique responses to
service failure and recovery, particularly given that these
buyer-seller interactions are viewed as a form of social
exchange (Matos and Leis 2013; Ngai et al. 2007;
Patterson, Cowley and Prasongsukarn 2006).
The Research Problem
The overall question guiding this research is: Do con-
sumers of African descent residing in three continents
(Africa, North America, and South America) respond to
a complaint-inducing situation in the same way?

Despite the apparent homogeneity implied by the
African-ness, diasporas that have migrated to other
countries may have acculturated in ways that challenge
traditional stereotypes. From both conceptual and
managerial perspectives, consumer behavior research-
ers can benefit from this stream of inquiry. The present
research attempts to capture the differences in the ways
consumers of African descent living in different
national-cultural contexts respond to dissatisfactory
experiences from service-centric businesses.
Development of Hypotheses
While there are a number of constructs from which to
investigate the current research problem, the concept of
loyalty offers a useful gateway. Loyalty is heavily dis-
cussed in cross-cultural research (Liu and McClure 2001;
Torres, Fu and Lehto 2014; Zhang, van Doorn and
Leeflang 2014). In general, the more loyal a person is in
terms of the extent or the frequency of association, the
lower the expected dissatisfaction resulting from a service
failure. This is likely because, along with time and fre-
quency, expectations are solidified. Consequently, the
difficulty to accept any abreaction is higher. Kitapci and
Dortyol (2009) observe that first-timers are more likely to
complain in a way that damages the firm. The duration
and repetition of interaction with a service provider
might condition complaint redressal expectations as
well. It is likely that a customer anticipates positive and
constructive redressal from a business with which he or
she has more frequent or longer-term association. As the
extent of investment in a company increases, switching
becomes harder. Given this, it is expected that customers
with longer or more intense associations should be more
prone to resolve issues, rather than engaging in behaviors
likely to injure the business, reputational or otherwise.
Nonetheless, behavior loyalty and attitudinal disloy-
alty may coexist. A typical scenario is when customer
choice is limited for a service. Customers may be forced
to resolve and reconcile with the service provider,
despite harboring negative attitudes or expressing
negative comments. The greater a consumer’s emo-
tional or psychological investment in a given service
provider the greater the exit costs associated with
breaking bonds with the provider (Burnham, Frels,
and Mahajan 2003). The differences in the country-
Fall 2018 433
cultural contexts imply different levels of importance
given to exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect (Farrell 1983).
The concept of “voice” is defined as any attempt to
change rather than escape an objectionable state of
affairs (Hirschman 1970). Power distance, as a charac-
teristic of a culture, defines the extent to which the less
powerful in a society accepts the inequality of power
and considers it normal (Hofstede 1984). In high power
distance societies, the less powerful members of society
do not expect to be consulted by their superiors and
they assume their superiors will behave autocratically.
The use of voice in high power distance societies is less,
observes Mellahi, Budhwar and Li (2010). As a special
case, the African diaspora in different national-cultural
contexts are faced with different levels of power dis-
tance. If the cultural integration with the host society is
greater, the power distance expectations of the host
society are better absorbed. South Africa has a power
distance score of 49, Brazil has 69, and the United
States has 40 (Hofstede 2018). The larger the number,
the greater the power distance. Are consumers of
African descent who assimilated the Brazilian culture
less likely to raise voice? Are African-American consu-
mers more likely to raise their complaints? Answers to
these and related questions offer guidance to research-
ers investigating all aspects of post-purchase behavior
and to managers committed to maintaining a strong
customer base, even after service deficits.
In the backdrop of the preceding discussion, it is
worthwhile to compare the complaint behavior of
African populations in various country settings, in
terms of exit (abandon the service provider, leave the
service organization), voice (raise a complaint), wait
(show behavioral loyalty by waiting), and neglect (ignore
the issue and go on as if nothing happened, passively
allowing the situation to dissipate). In light of the cultural
differences among these countries, it is likely their pro-
pensity to exit, voice, wait, or neglect could turn out to be
significantly different from one another.
H1: Significant differences exist as to how African
consumers express their dissatisfaction via exit, voice,
wait, or neglect in a complaint-inducing situation,
across three country samples.
Psychological distance, one of the key components of
construal level theory (CLT) is a key theme in the literature
on integration. According to CLT (Liberman and Trope
434 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice
1998), the more distant an object (person, event, idea, etc.)
is from the individual, the more abstract it is perceived;
conversely, the closer the object is, the more concretely it is
perceived (Trope and Liberman 2010; Trope, Liberman,
and Wakslak 2007). In essence, representations of far
removed events (psychologically distant) tend to be filled
with generalizations and few specifics, whereas representa-
tions of near events (psychologically near) are composed of
particulars and rich detail. Psychological distance is likely
to diminish along with time and the extent of engage-
ment. For example, frequent flyers of a particular airline
may feel a much lower psychological distance than custo-
mers with less engagement with the airline. Cultural com-
patibility between the customer and the service provider,
likewise, might lessen psychological distance. In this way,
psychological distance is a measure of cultural integration
—higher psychological distance implies lower levels of
cultural integration. Struggles associated with socio-cul-
tural adjustment during cross-cultural transitions are
demonstrated by higher psychological distance (Ward
and Kennedy 1993). Psychological distance alienates—
the more alienated a consumer is from the service provider,
the higher the likelihood of complaining to an external
agency.
Many African-ancestry consumers in African-minor-
ity countries still consider themselves victims of disen-
franchisement (Podoshen 2008). Concomitantly, to the
extent there is a shared belief in the existence of dis-
crimination, there may also be a higher probability of
making an external attribution. Attribution theory
focuses on the perceived causality of behaviors and
addresses causal inferences about “why” things and
behaviors occur (Mizerski, Golden and Kernan 1979).
Whether to seek a relatively objective external agency
(for example, the Better Business Bureau) for help with
complaint redress is influenced by these perceptions.
While the extant literature does not give relative figures
of disenfranchisement for African-descended consu-
mers residing in the three countries under investiga-
tion, it is expected to see these differences reflected in
the empirical data on complaint behavior.
H2: Significant differences exist as to how African
consumers seek the help of an external agency for
complaint resolution, across three country samples.
While the possibility of exit always exists following a
negative service encounter, consumers may instead
choose to complain. If launching a complaint is not
aimed at constructive resolution but rather to express
frustration, it is natural to expect complainers to spread
negative word-of-mouth to those in their immediate
environments and beyond. This could result in switch-
ing to a competing service provider and not waiting for
a final in-house complaint resolution from the offend-
ing firm. Simultaneously, the aggrieved consumer may
attempt to influence others to discontinue business
with the current company. In cross-cultural research
such as the current study, generally prevailing opti-
mism in the community about a justifiable in-house
resolution could determine whether the community
members will spread negative word-of-mouth aimed
at damaging the reputation of the firm. The prospects
of African-ancestry consumers sharing grievances pub-
licly in a dissatisfactory service situation are different
across the three-country samples chosen for the study.
H3: Significant differences exist as to how African
consumers spread negative word-of-mouth in a com-
plaint situation, across three country samples.
Complaining provides the psychologically gratifying
relief of frustration (Bennett 1997). Still, historical
racial discrimination has made many African-ancestry
consumers believe in the unjustness of the external
world (Dovidio, Kawakami, and Gaertner 2002;
Hochschild 1995; Wang, Stroebe, and Dovidio 2012).
Such perceived negativity of the external world is
attacked by means of complaining behavior; yet, the
complaining behavior is accompanied by decreased life
satisfaction and optimism (Wojciszke 2004). To experi-
ence negative emotions following the initiation of a
complaint is universal; however, differences should be
expected across the country samples. Living in a
national-cultural context like that of the United
States, which implicitly denominates customer reac-
tions to unjustifiable business behavior be right and
legitimate, the African-American minority should feel
relatively lower levels of negative emotions.
H4: Significant differences in the level of negative emo-
tions exist among African consumers after launching a
complaint, across three country samples.
Customer expectations should be viewed as distribu-
tions, rather than simple point expectations, argue
Rust, Inman, Jia and Zahorik (1999). Expectation
uncertainty is the range of expectations that customers
have about a service delivery. In the context of
 Fall 2018 435

complaint resolution, this uncertainty is likely to be

Figure 1
higher for consumers of African origin in a foreign Country Differences in the Complaint Behavior
country. Greater uncertainty leads to greater stress of the African Diaspora
(Mishel 1984; Monat, Averill, and Lazarus 1972).
Differences in the degree of uncertainty and the degree
of centrality of a subpopulation in the national popula- Complaint Response
Complaint
tion together can create different stress coping strate- Inducing Country of Residence of H1 Exit
Situation the African Diaspora Voice
gies (Afifi, Afifi, Merrill, and Nimah 2016; Pavlova, Wait
Lechner, and Silbereisen 2018). African consumers in Neglect

countries where they are still considered on the fringe

Complaint Recipient
of society may be more likely to adopt a variety of stress
H2
management strategies to overcome the heightened Internal
Agency
External
Agency

uncertainty. However, because of their predominantly

unsolidified ideas about what the processes and out- H3
Negative word of mouth
comes of the resolution are going to be, they may also
be more likely to accept a wider range of complaint
H4
resolution proposals from the service provider. Emotional Responses

H5
H5: Significant differences exist in employment of Stress Coping Strategies
stress coping strategies of African consumers after
launching a complaint, across three country samples.

A conceptual model depicting all the hypothesized

relationships are presented in Figure 1.
THE STUDY
The study employed panel surveys to measure consu-
mer attitudes toward complaining. The responses were
gathered from 693 individuals of African origin living
in South Africa, Brazil, or the United States. A country-
specific online survey company employing qualified
panel members was used in each country. U.S.-based
Qualtrics undertook the overall coordination of the
project. While racial designation in the United States,
Europe and related regions is typically driven by ethni-
city and heredity, such is not the case in Brazil (Rivera,
Schmutte and Cornwall 2013). In Brazil, the vast
majority of the population is of mixed or European
descent, where skin color is viewed more as a conti-
nuum, with many self-selecting the term “mixed” (or
its variations) over strict “black” or “white” (Bailey
2009; Loveman, Muniz and Baily 2012). Qualified
respondents self-identified as belonging to the racial/
ethnic category of “black” (in the case of the United
States or South Africa respondents) or “black” or
“mixed” (in the case of respondents from Brazil).
Approximately 20.18 percent of the respondents were
from the United States, 61.49 percent from South
Africa, and 18.33 percent from Brazil. In terms of gen-
der, 44.48 percent identified as male and 54.34 percent
identified as female. A minimal number of respondents
declined to identify their gender.
The survey instrument was translated as necessary
into the native language of the target audiences—South
Africa: English or Zulu; Brazil: Portuguese; United
States: English. The goal of translation is to provide a
text in the target language that is equivalent to the
original source-language version (Chidlow,
Plakoyiannaki, and Welch 2014; Pym 2007). To ensure
the veracity of this goal, linguist specialists in each
country accomplished the translation. These transla-
tions were then back translated into English to ensure
equal value. Back translation is typically regarded as the
most effective technique for the determination of
translation equivalence (Hult, et. al. 2008; Sin, Hung,
and Cheung 2002; Okazaki and Mueller 2007).
Potential respondents were then presented with the
survey instrument in their native language. After click-
ing on a link indicating agreement to participate, parti-
cipants were taken to the survey where they were asked
to think about a specific service failure situation they
had experienced and either complained or thought
about complaining. Following this, participants
answered the remaining survey questions based on
the remembered service failure. The scale items used
436 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

and the associated references from which the scales Table 1

were adapted appear in the Appendix. “Top of Mind” Service Failure Types
From a research perspective, consumers of African Complaint types investigated Percentage
descent were selected as focal points mainly due to
the dearth of research on this population in the con- I had to wait a long time for my appointment or 32.40%
service
sumer complaining behavior literature. There is an
The service person was uncaring 25.04%
obvious void in the current services scholarly literature There were mistakes with the service 24.74%
addressing this particular cultural demographic. Thus, The service person was impolite 22.53%
no focused, systematic research effort has been devoted The price was too high 19.00%
to Afrocentric consumers across cultures with respect to The service person was unknowledgeable 12.67%
their post-purchase dissatisfaction behaviors. Given the Other 12.08%
increased economic heft of African-ancestry consu- There were billing errors 10.90%
The service person was a cheat 10.46%
mers, there is a major financial incentive to better
The price was unfair 9.43%
understand this sector of markets. This is particularly The price was deceptive 8.54%
evident in the United States, where African-Americans The location or hours were inconvenient 6.19%
constitute 13.7 percent of the population, with buying The service person tried to “hard sell” me 5.60%
power exceeding $1.1 trillion (Baker 2013).

Data Analysis
Respondents were asked to identify a service type fol-
lowed by an assortment of service-related industries.
“Top of mind” service types reported included waiting
time, billing errors, mistakes with the service, the uncar-
ing of service staff, and rude staff, among others. Waiting
time was the most recurrent top of the mind awareness
theme, followed by the carelessness of the service staff
and mistakes in service delivery (see Table 1).
Multinomial logistic regression procedures were
used to test if country of residence determines their
attitude to exit, voice, continued loyalty, or neglect
the complaint-inducing situation. The objective of
logistic regression is to predict the probabilities of
the different possible outcomes of a categorically dis-
tributed dependent variable, given a set of indepen-
dent variables. In order to perform the analysis, one
outcome variable was to be taken as the reference
category. “Resident of the United States” was selected
for this purpose.
Table 2 shows whether the variables included signif-
icantly improved the model compared to the intercept
alone. The significance level of the “Final” model (p <
0.05) indicates that the full model is statistically signif-
icant and predicts the dependent variable better than
the intercept-only model. The Cox and Snell pseudo R2
value for the overall model is found to be 0.549. Also,
the Pearson Goodness of Fit test showed a significance
level of 0.213. This further helps us reject the null
hypothesis that the model is unfit.
Table 2
The Overall Multinomial Model Fit
Model Fitting Criteria Likelihood Ratio Tests
Model –2 Log Likelihood Chi-Square df Sig.
Intercept Only 1156.756
Final 1044.541 112.216 52 .000
Table 3 shows which of the independent variables
are statistically significant. While a listing of all utilized
study measures may be found in the Appendix, it is
useful to explicitly note the items drawn for use here.
Specifically,
Voice: Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1996)—
items 4, 5, 6
Loyalty: Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1996)—
items 1, 2, 3
Neglect: Duhachek (2005)—items 7, 8, 12, 13
Exit: Duhachek (2005)—items 3, 4, 5.
Notably, loyalty’s significance value exceeded the
cut-off value of 0.05. This suggests that residency dif-
ferences did not significantly alter African-descendant
consumers’ decision whether to continue to be loyal to
the business in the aftermath of dissatisfactory service
encounters. Nevertheless, as mentioned earlier, the
overall model seemed fit. The classification output
derived from the analysis is given in Table 4.
Overall, based on the observed values of exit, voice,
loyalty, and neglect data, the model correctly predicts
55.3 percent of the country of residence. For Brazil, the
 Fall 2018 437

Table 3 Table 5
The Likelihood Ratios Pertaining to Exit-Voice-Loyalty- Mean Values of Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect for Country
Neglect Model Samples
Likelihood Ratio Brazil South Africa United States
Model Fitting Criteria Tests
Exit 4.21 1.81 6.15
–2 Log Likelihood of Reduced Chi- Voice 1.93 4.70 5.27
Effect Model Square df Sig. Loyalty 2.62 2.43 2.02
Neglect 2.46 3.31 1.63
Intercept 1044.541 .000 0
Exit 1073.553 29.012 12 .004
Voice 1084.743 40.202 12 .000
Loyalty 1061.114 16.573 12 .166 To test Hypothesis 2 through Hypothesis 5, one-way
Neglect 1075.635 31.094 14 .005 MANOVA was used. The one-way multivariate analysis
of variance (one-way MANOVA) is a test often used to
determine whether significant differences exist
predictability is relatively lower at 22.1 percent; for the between independent groups on two or more contin-
United States, the country of residence is predicted in uous dependent variables. The MANOVA is followed by
60.8 percent of the cases. Why might this be the case? A a post-hoc test to determine the significance of differ-
possible explanation is that many of the respondents in ences across independent groups for each dependent
the survey from Brazil identified themselves as “mixed variable.
race.” Finally, the mean values of exit, voice, loyalty, and Item statements for “negative word-of-mouth” were
neglect were calculated, for all respondents, based on drawn from Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1996),
their country of residence. Table 5 summarizes this. Bearden, Hardesty, and Rose (2001), and Von der
African-Americans are the most vocal in the group and Heyde Fernandes, and Pizzutti dos Santos (2007).
they are more likely to exit than the other two groups. While these studies did not specifically develop instru-
They are unlikely to neglect a dissatisfactory encounter or ments to measure the extent of negative word-of-
continue business as usual. The South African group is mouth, this construct emerged as a key factor in each
noted for its low probability to exit, even though they of the individual articles. Since these studies are among
voice their complaint almost as much as their counter- some of the most well-cited in the complaint behavior
parts in the United States. Also, they showed the highest literature, additional validity assessments were not con-
level of loyalty of all the groups, despite their dissatisfac- ducted. Additionally, the level of negative emotions
tory experiences. The table implies that Brazilian respon- was measured using a composite of factors identified
dents are somewhere in the middle, in terms of their post- by Richins (1997), Tangney and Dearing (2002), and
dissatisfaction responses. Of note for Brazilians is their Agrawal and Duhachek (2010). These three studies pro-
high inclination to exit without voicing their complaints. vide a comprehensive list of key negative emotions
Brazilian loyalty figures showed the least divergence experienced by typical consumers. Item statements
among the three groups. were verbalized in a standardized format for guilt,
regret, feeling bad, depression, sadness, anger, frustra-
tion, discontent, loneliness, shame, humiliation, and
Table 4 embarrassment. The researchers considered the face
Country of Residence Predictability validity of these measures and found the same to be
acceptable.
Predicted
Item statements related to stress-coping strategies
South United Percent were drawn from (Duhachek 2005). This researcher
Observed Brazil Africa States Correct examined the ways that consumers cope with stress
Brazil 31 44 65 22.1% and developed a multidimensional scale to measure
South Africa 27 228 104 63.5% the coping construct. A detailed list of items used for
United States 22 100 189 60.8% measurement purposes is given in the Appendix.
Overall 9.9% 45.9% 44.2% 55.3% The descriptive statistics of mean responses is
Percentage
given in Table 6. It suggests that African-American
438 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

Table 6 The Wilks Lambda corresponding to the resident

Comparison of Mean Response Values country is 0.790 and is significant at p < 0.05 (Table 7).
Resident Based on this, we could conclude that the resident coun-
Country Mean try significantly impacts the post-dissatisfaction
responses examined here. To determine how the depen-
Complain to an External Agency USA 4.70
dent variables individually differed for the independent
South Africa 3.35
Brazil 3.46 variable, a test of between-subjects-effects was performed
Total 3.71 and the output of the analysis is presented in Table 8.
Development of Negative Emotions USA 3.57 Examining the Resident Country column, all four rows
South Africa 4.05 show significance (p < 0.05). We can see from this table
Brazil 3.62 that the country of residence has a statistically significant
Total 3.84 effect on the propensity to complain externally (F (2, 687)
Spread Negative Word-of-Mouth USA 2.85
= 26.803; p < .0005; partial η2 = .072), propensity to
South Africa 3.08
Brazil 3.56
develop negative emotions (F (2, 687) = 4.714;
Total 3.13 p < .0005; partial η2 = .014), propensity to spread negative
Extent of Use of Stress Coping Strategies USA 4.05 word-of-mouth (F (2, 687) = 5.726; p < .0005; partial η2 =
South Africa 3.63 .016), and the propensity to exercise stress coping strate-
Brazil 3.55 gies (F (2, 687) = 3.664; p < .0005; partial η2 = .011).
Total 3.72 To better understand these differences, multiple
comparison analysis (Tukey’s HSD post-hoc tests) was
performed. The findings are presented in Table 9.
consumers are more likely to complain to an external As Table 9 shows, significant differences in the post
agency than the two other groups, while respondents complaint responses are limited to a few pairs of resi-
in South Africa develop the most negative emotions. dent countries. In terms of the propensity to complain
Interestingly, Brazilian respondents are more likely to externally, there exist significant differences between
spread negative word-of-mouth than the other African descendants living in the United States and
groups. Additionally, African-Americans used stress- South Africa, and between the United States and Brazil
coping strategies more than the other two groups. respondents. Yet, there is no significant difference
The multivariate tests indicate an overall strong between African descendants living in South Africa
model. The results of these tests are given in Table 7. and Brazil. In terms of negative emotion, there is a

Table 7
Multivariate Tests of Model Fit
Hypothesis Partial Eta Noncent. Observed
Effect Value F df Error df Sig. Squared Parameter Powerd

Intercept Pillai’s Trace .890 1385.33b 4.000 684.000 .000 .890 5541.301 1.000
Wilks’ Lambda .110 1385.33b 4.000 684.000 .000 .890 5541.301 1.000
Hotelling’s 8.10 1385.33b 4.000 684.000 .000 .890 5541.301 1.000
Trace
Roy’s Largest 8.10 1385.33b 4.000 684.000 .000 .890 5541.301 1.000
Root
Resident Pillai’s Trace .217 20.893 8.000 1370.00 .000 .109 167.145 1.000
Country Wilks’ Lambda .790 21.398b 8.000 1368.00 .000 .111 171.184 1.000
Hotelling’s .257 21.903 8.000 1366.00 .000 .114 175.223 1.000
Trace
Roy’s Largest .212 36.372c 4.000 685.000 .000 .175 145.487 1.000
Root
Notes: a. Design: Intercept + Resident Country
b. Exact statistic
c. The statistic is an upper bound on F that yields a lower bound on the significance level.
d. Computed using alpha = .05
 Fall 2018 439

Table 8
Test of Between-Subjects Effects
Dependent Type III Sum of Mean Partial Eta Noncent. Observed
Source Variable Squares df Square F Sig. Squared Parameter Powere

Corrected Complain 224.473a 2 112.236 26.803 .000 .072 53.606 1.000

Model External
Negative 36.567b 2 18.284 4.714 .009 .014 9.428 .789
Emotions
Negative Word 42.569c 2 21.284 5.726 .003 .016 11.452 .866
Coping 25.478d 2 12.739 3.664 .026 .011 7.327 .675
Strategies
Intercept Complain 8748.702 1 8748.70 2089.25 .000 .753 2089.248 1.000
External
Negative 8351.825 1 8351.82 2153.33 .000 .758 2153.327 1.000
Emotions
Negative Word 5952.351 1 5952.35 1601.32 .000 .700 1601.315 1.000
Coping 8325.455 1 8325.45 2394.29 .000 .777 2394.289 1.000
Strategies
Resident Complain 224.473 2 112.236 26.803 .000 .072 53.606 1.000
Country External
Negative 36.567 2 18.284 4.714 .009 .014 9.428 .789
Emotions
Negative Word 42.569 2 21.284 5.726 .003 .016 11.452 .866
Coping 25.478 2 12.739 3.664 .026 .011 7.327 .675
Strategies
Error Complain 2876.804 687 4.187
External
Negative 2664.576 687 3.879
Emotions
Negative Word 2553.692 687 3.717
Coping 2388.846 687 3.477
Strategies
Total Complain 12577.000 690
External
Negative 12871.000 690
Emotions
Negative Word 9358.000 690
Coping 11942.000 690
Strategies
Corrected Complain 3101.277 689
Total External
Negative 2701.143 689
Emotions
Negative Word 2596.261 689
Coping 2414.325 689
Strategies
Notes: a. R Squared = .072 (Adjusted R Squared = .070)
b. R Squared = .014 (Adjusted R Squared = .011)
c. R Squared = .016 (Adjusted R Squared = .014)
d. R Squared = .011 (Adjusted R Squared = .008)
e. Computed using alpha = .05

significant difference only between the United States States and Brazil, and between South Africa and Brazil,
and South Africa. In terms of negative word-of-mouth, but not between the United States and South Africa. In
there exist significant differences between the United terms of the propensity to engage in stress-coping
440 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

Table 9
Country of Origin Effects (Tukey’s HSD Post-Hoc Test)
95% Confidence Interval

(I) Resident (J) Resident Mean Difference (I- Std. Lower Upper
Dependent Variable Country Country J) Error Sig. Bound Bound

Complain External USA South Africa 1.35* .190 .000 .91 1.80
Brazil 1.24* .228 .000 .70 1.77
South Africa USA –1.35* .190 .000 –1.80 –.91
Brazil –.12 .197 .821 –.58 .34
Brazil USA –1.24* .228 .000 –1.77 –.70
South Africa .12 .197 .821 –.34 .58
Negative Emotions USA South Africa –.48* .183 .022 –.91 –.05
Brazil –.05 .219 .971 –.57 .47
South Africa USA .48* .183 .022 .05 .91
Brazil .43 .190 .058 –.01 .88
Brazil USA .05 .219 .971 –.47 .57
South Africa –.43 .190 .058 –.88 .01
Negative Word USA South Africa –.23 .179 .416 –.65 .19
Brazil –.71* .215 .003 –1.21 –.20
South Africa USA .23 .179 .416 –.19 .65
Brazil –.48* .186 .025 –.92 –.05
Brazil USA .71* .215 .003 .20 1.21
South Africa .48* .186 .025 .05 .92
Stress Coping USA South Africa .41* .173 .044 .01 .82
Strategies Brazil .50* .208 .044 .01 .99
South Africa USA –.41* .173 .044 –.82 –.01
Brazil .08 .179 .888 –.34 .50
Brazil USA –.50* .208 .044 –.99 –.01
South Africa –.08 .179 .888 –.50 .34
Notes: Based on observed means.
The error term is Mean Square (Error) = 3.477.
*. The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.

strategies, there is a significant difference between the
United States and Brazil, and between the United States
and South Africa, but not between South Africa and
Brazil.
DISCUSSION
The underlying goal of the study is to ascertain differ-
ences in responses to dissatisfaction with aspects of
services consumption across three sets of African-cen-
tric consumers. More specifically, the study addresses
whether consumers exit the market or continue their
loyalty to the organization or voice their concerns or
neglect the problem situation. How do response beha-
viors vary across consumers of African descent in three
different countries?
Findings reveal insights useful to both researchers
and practitioners. African-Americans appear to be the
most vocal of the three groups as shown in Table 5.
Consumers in this subset are more likely to take some
action to display their discontent over disconfirmation
of service expectations and are less apt to allow things
to continue as usual with the service provider. This
may be due in part to a cultural tradition in the
United States that encourages expression of dissatisfac-
tion. The freedom of expression may be more pro-
nounced in the United States and thus, fewer
inhibitions to engaging in conspicuous complaint
behavior post dissatisfactory service experiences. This
group is more likely to exit as a customer for the service
provider offering the less than satisfactory service. This
may be due to the number of alternative service
options available in that particular market space.

Conversely, the data reveals that South African con-
sumers have a low probability to exit the customer realm
for the offending service provider. One reason could be
the availability of alternative options in a given service
market category. When the number of choices is les-
sened, regardless of the reasons, there is a much higher
probability of maintaining the status quo. The zone of
tolerance for less than satisfactory services is likely to be
wider because the selections are narrow. In marketing
terms, the probability of switching behavior might be
reduced given the increased expenditure of effort that
could be required to locate and visit alternative provi-
ders. Given that South Africans are equally as likely to
voice complaints, but choose to not discontinue patron-
age, might again be an indicator of service availability.
In the comparison of mean values in Table 6,
African-Americans have a greater probability of com-
plaining to an external agency, which might include
both governmental and nongovernmental entities.
This may be due in part to the availability of organiza-
tions and a culture that reinforces the idea of seeking
external redress for perceived marketplace wrongs.
Conversely, South Africans appear to have the most
negative emotions and Brazilians have the highest ten-
dency to disseminate negative word-of-mouth to those
in their immediate circles and beyond.
Limitations, Managerial Implications, Future
Directions and Conclusion
Limitations
Cross-cultural research is challenging under the best of
conditions. Compromises and resource constraints inevi-
tably result in limitations to the overall project. As such,
this work is not without limitations that may have an
impact on the overall findings and generalizability of the
project. Approximately 61 percent of the final sample was
from South Africa. As a result, the overall sample should
not be considered categorically representative of the
African population in all three countries studies. The
findings are not standalone facts, but are provided as
possible means of exploring suppositions stemming out
of existing theories of consumer behavior.
In essence, online panel surveys are a form of conveni-
ence sampling and are subject to the limitations of such
sampling, such as the generalizability of outcomes. While
techniques exist, such as quota sampling to refine the
convenience sampling process, none are adequate to
Fall 2018 441
fully compensate for the nonprobability nature of the
sample. Finally, using a “remembered service failure” as
the starting point to explore reactions to service failure is
very broad and may raise issues of validity in response due
possibly to selective and/or faulty memory.
Managerial Implications
In the complaint behavior context, it may be appropri-
ate to conclude that consumers of African descent in
the three continents are separated by the same race.
While some of the details lack significant differences,
based on the overall model fit, we could conclude that
the hypotheses proposed in the study are all supported.
There is no extant theory of cross-cultural differences
that could account for all the observed differences in
this work. The attempts to explain the empirical obser-
vations are post-hoc at best and, as such, it is not
claimed that these explanations will absolutely
strengthen the causal chain.
Ultimately, the managerial implications of
research should address the impact on marketing
strategy. Basically, how should managers reconfigure
marketing strategy variables based on the findings of
a study? Findings suggest that global marketers tar-
geting African-ancestry consumers should pay care-
ful attention to the redress process. While this
finding in itself is not necessarily new (cf. Crockett,
Grier, and Williams 2003; Hogarth, Hilgert,
Kolodinsky, and Lee 2001), the importance of it
cannot be understated. Marketers should not make
the assumptions based on consumers’ African orien-
tation alone that similarities will outweigh differ-
ences regarding whether or not to complain, how
complaining behaviors should be manifested, the
emotional tone of complaint efforts, the manage-
ment of the complaint process—operationally, tacti-
cally and strategically, and the assessment of the
effectiveness of complaint behaviors. The subtle
nuances of managing complaint behaviors across
cultures must be mastered if sustained effectiveness
is the goal, regardless of the ethnic orientation of
the customer base. On balance, marketers of services
in cross-cultural environments must be especially
adroit in attempting to predict prospective pitfalls
in service delivery systems across the globe. This
mind-set encourages marketers to be proactive and
consciously deliberate in preparing for responses to
dissatisfactory consumer service experiences.
442 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice
Cross-cultural complaint management may impact
various aspects of the organizations’ marketing pro-
gram, including:
1. The structure of complaint management and the
manner of orchestration by firms, especially in
cross-cultural environments, may impact long-
term customer retention rates. Given the empha-
sis in firms on creating long-lasting value (Kumar
and Reinartz 2016) and measuring and assessing
lifetime customer value (Sunder, Kumar, and
Zhao 2016), customer retention becomes an
even more highly placed priority in organiza-
tions. In particular, firms are working to identify
and understand the drivers of customer value and
those drivers can be used to strategic advantage.
The quality of the customer complaint experience
may very well be perceived as a component of the
customer value construct.
2. Complaint management may impact the degree,
extent, and magnitude of customer loyalty. If the
complaint management process influences custo-
mer loyalty, it is incumbent on organizations to
prevent or minimize complaints, analyze the
underlying causes and sources of complaints,
and to design and execute systems, processes,
and procedures to remedy concerns or at least to
allay the negative impact of complaint-related
behavior.
3. The quality of the complaint management effort
may impact the capacity of the firm to attract new
customers via the company’s reputation for quality
complaint resolution, when problems in fact
occur. Positive complaint-handling experiences
may retard the exodus of current customers and
expedite switching behavior from customers of
competing organizations. The likelihood of these
actions, especially in cross-cultural settings, varies
depending upon the situation, alternatives avail-
able, and the perceived severity of the problem.
4. The adroitness with which organizations manage
customer complaints may reinforce the relative
centrality of customer care as a core value and as
an integral part of the corporate ethos. Serious,
astute customer care efforts are likely to be per-
ceived as fundamental pillars of the core organi-
zational fabric. Thus, it behooves organizations to
approach customer complaint management stra-
tegically, operationally, and tactically.
5. Complaint management can also be viewed from
the perspective of relationship gap management.
Nordin and Ravald (2016) focus attention on
managing relationship gaps from a practitioner
perspective. While their focus is on the B2B con-
text, their discussion is instructive in better
understanding the constructs in the current
study. In a sense, when customers complain
about disconfirmation of expectations there is
indeed a gap. How firms manage the “gap” offers
clear insight regarding organizational priorities,
culture, and strategic execution. While not com-
pletely applicable and transferable to a B2C ser-
vices scenario, Nordin and Ravald (2016) provide
insight into four gap management options
anchored by two dimensions—persistence and
complacence: (a) convincing represents high per-
sistence and low complacence in efforts to get
customers to see that the actions taken by the
business were not quite as perceived; (b) combin-
ing offers some measure of compromise or a half-
way effort between being persistent and
complacent. It requires some measure of adapta-
tion or adjustment from both parties; (c) capitu-
lation generally involves the organization
accepting the customers’ perspective. It is a situa-
tion where the firm is very complacent and low
on persistence and adopts the customers’ point of
view and position; and (d) canceling represents a
scenario where neither side is open to compro-
mising and the dissolution of the relationship
results.
While the four relationship gap management strate-
gies provided by Nordin and Ravald (2016) are B2B-
centered, they provide some insight into the types of
actions that might be taken by both businesses and
customers in less intensive transactional exchanges
that might characterize many service encounters, espe-
cially in cross-cultural settings. There are managerial
implications applicable to the current study that
advances our understanding of complaint managing
in different cultural environments.
In an era of considerable focus on microsegmentation
and tailored strategies and messaging, current research
findings allow marketers to develop a priori complaint
resolution methods consistent with how the data indi-
cate consumers of African descent may be predisposed to
respond. If a specific group is more likely to prefer a

specific resolution style or manner, the service provider
can respond in ways that may limit long-term relation-
ship damage or conversely, may contribute to a stronger
likelihood of loyalty. As big data analytics become
increasingly powerful in segmenting markets, findings
from this study offer guidance in market response strate-
gies to dissatisfactory service encounters.
Future Directions
Given the monumental increase in the growth of services
worldwide and the need to better understand aspects of
cross-cultural consumer behavior, especially post-pur-
chase behavior, the current study provides insight regard-
ing African-ancestry consumers across three continents.
While this study provided some insight, it also opens the
research doors to additional opportunity to investigate
the area. Thus, directions for future research in this
sphere offer some of the following possibilities. Will the
types of complaining vary if consumers are loyal to a local
brand? Maybe loyalty to a local brand will prompt more
positive and constructive complaints than if the brand
were international. More negative responses are likely to
be associated with dissatisfaction with brands that are
more removed from the consumer. Taking this to the
next step, will consumers with any unique cultural iden-
tity living in a foreign country have similar constructive
feelings toward brands from or tied to their cultural ori-
gins or similarly, other “local” brands? An interesting
topic for future research is whether African-ancestry con-
sumers are more likely to engage in positive and construc-
tive complaint redressal processes, if the firm is African-
owned or operated.
Conclusions
Complaints that consumers launch against a company
are less likely to be constructive if the company is of
foreign origin than if it were local. Complaint
responses mirror psychological distance. There is possi-
bly an inverse relationship between psychological dis-
tance and the propensity for constructive complaints,
in the event of dissatisfactory experiences. As an exam-
ple, the psychological distance African-ancestry consu-
mers feel toward an African-owned business in that
country could be significantly lower than the psycho-
logical distance that non-African consumers feel
toward the same business.
Fall 2018 443
Optimism is another key factor—the optimism consu-
mers experience about the outcome of complaint resolu-
tion will influence whether they complain, the
propensity to complain, and the types of complaining
behavior. Greater psychological distance could reduce
optimism by making the consumer distance himself
from the experienced self, and vice versa (Liberman and
Förster 2009). In the event of a dissatisfactory experience
with an African-owned business, African-ancestry consu-
mers living in a foreign country might be more likely to
launch constructive complaints against that company.
This is quite akin to the country of origin effect.
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2. I felt sad
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446 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice
6. I came up with a solution to the problem
7. I wished the situation would go away
8. I tried to forget the whole thing
9. I wanted to turn the clock back
10. I wished I could escape the situation
11. I wish I wouldn’t have had to go through the
situation
12. I avoided the source of stress
13. I changed something so things would turn out
better
(Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman 1996)
1. I would recommend this service provider to others
2. I would say positive things about this service
provider
3. I would encourage my family and friends to use
this service provider
4. I said negative things to other people
5. I encouraged friends and family not to do busi-
ness with the service provider
6. I complained to an external agency (such as the
Better Business Bureau)
(Bearden, Hardesty, and Rose 2001)
1. I am afraid to ask to speak to the manager
2. I don’t like to sell a service provider something is
wrong
3. I am too timid to complain when problems arise
4. I have a hard time saying “No” to a salesperson
(Von der Heyde Fernandes and Pizzutti dos Santos 2007)
1. It sometimes feels good to get my frustration with
a service off my chest by complaining
2. People are going to end up with unsatisfactory
experiences once in a while, so they should not
complain
3. People have a responsibility to society to tell a
business when the service is unsatisfactory
4. I don’t like people who complain because usually
their complains are unreasonable
5. It bothers me quite a bit when I don’t complain
about unsatisfactory service
(Santos and Von der Heyde Fernandes 2008)
1. I was not happy about how the organization
handled my complaint
2. I was pleased with the manner in which the com-
plaint was dealt with