The Use Of Computer Mediated Communication In Consumer Complaining: A Study In Higher Education

Abstract

The electronic channel for consumer complaining has increased dramatically in recent years and continued growth is expected in the future. The objective of this research was to explore how computer-mediated communication is being used as a channel for complaining in higher education. A study was conducted of the complaint intentions of 222 students at one college in the eastern half of the United States.  Four complaining dimensions were studied:  Voice, Negative Word-of-Mouth, Third Party, and Exit.  The results indicated that the most common behavioral intentions are: Complain to other students face-to-face, complain to the professor in office, and never take another class from the professor. The research findings also indicate the number of students who are likely to use computer-mediated communication to complain. In addition, the results show strong correlations between computer-mediated complaining and other complaining responses.