Complaint behaviour in Cyprus. When and why consumers complain? Is there any distinction between online and offline consumers?

Abstract

Consumers are often dissatisfied from a product they purchased or a service they visited. According to studies, over fifty percent of dissatisfied consumers do not complain. There are various reasons that consumers do not protest, the most common is that they believe that nothing will change even if they do so. Moreover, most consumers consider complaining process as a stressful and pointless procedure that requires time and effort. Also, most of them are shy to complain, and thus they just leave the service and search for alternatives. Consumers that do react towards dissatisfaction, usually complain to the service, refer to organizations for consumers’ rights, or speak in negative words within their close environment. Online consumers are more often dissatisfied, though complain less than the offline consumers. Furthermore, on contrary with offline consumers, they may blame themselves for their dissatisfaction, as they by their own chose the specific service/website. Complaint opportunistic behaviour is the way that some consumers behave in order to take advantage and thus be benefited financially. Most consumers in Cyprus complain occasionally, mainly because of impoliteness and when they have to wait for a long time. Furthermore, they complain when they have time available and when the problem is serious. The services that protest more about are public services and restaurants. Online consumers in Cyprus complain less than offline ones and those that protest they do so through e-mail, but also face to face method. The main reason that online consumers complain is when they receive a different product from the one they ordered. There are cases of consumers that behave in opportunistic way, though they do not consist the total of population in Cyprus. The most common service that opportunistic behaviour is observed in Cyprus are telecommunication services, where for example co