GB534 Unit 9 Post-Purchase Analysis Example

182 Problems and 82 Silences: A Unit 9 Post-Purchase Analysis of a Compact Stroller's Unheard Complaints

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Purdue University Global

GB534: Consumer Behavior

Unit 9 Post-Purchase Analysis

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[Date]

The stroller brand, the survey and every figure are composite and illustrative; the frameworks and sources cited are real.

The Survey

Front Range Strollers surveyed buyers of its compact model ninety days after delivery. Of 3,800 buyers invited, 1,140 responded, a rate of about 30 percent. Respondents were asked whether they had experienced a problem, what they did about it and how likely they were to recommend the brand.

Table 1: What Buyers With a Problem Did

Of the 1,140 respondents, 182, about 16 percent, reported a problem with the fold latch or a wheel.

Complained to the brand: 62, about 34 percent of those with a problem.

Posted a public review only, without contacting the brand: 38, about 21 percent.

Did nothing: 82, about 45 percent.

Singh (1988) classified responses to dissatisfaction into voice responses directed at the seller, private responses such as switching brands or warning friends, and third-party responses directed at outside parties. Here, the 62 who complained used voice; the 38 who posted reviews used a public, third-party response; and the 82 who did nothing chose no visible response, though some may have warned friends privately.

Table 2: What Happened to the Complainers

Of the 62 who complained, 49, about 79 percent, had the problem fixed, usually by a free replacement latch or wheel sent by mail. The other 13 were still waiting or had been told the problem was within normal limits.

Table 3: Likelihood to Recommend

On a scale from 0 to 10:

Buyers with no problem: about 8.4.

Complainers whose problem was fixed: about 8.6.

Complainers whose problem was not fixed: about 4.1.

Public review only: about 5.0.

Did nothing: about 6.2.

Buyers whose problems were fixed are slightly more likely to recommend the brand than buyers who never had a problem, while silent buyers sit well below both.

Why 82 Said Nothing

Silent buyers were asked why they had not contacted the brand.

It was not worth the effort for a small problem: 31.

Did not know how or whom to contact: 22.

Fixed it themselves, for example with lubricant: 17.

Expected nothing would happen: 12.

Two-thirds of the silent buyers gave reasons that the brand could address: effort, not knowing how and low expectations. Hirschman (1970) argued that customers who are dissatisfied choose between exit and voice, and that voice is more likely when it is easy and expected to work. For a $379 stroller with a squeaky wheel, voice looked costly and uncertain, so many buyers simply lived with the problem or quietly lowered their opinion of the brand.

Expectations and Satisfaction

In the model Oliver (1980) proposed, a buyer's satisfaction depends on whether the product does better or worse than expected. A sticking latch on a stroller sold for its one-hand fold disconfirms the main expectation buyers had. Without a fix, the disconfirmation persists, which may explain why silent buyers' recommendation scores are low even when the problem is minor.

A Recovery Paradox, or Not?

Some research describes a service recovery paradox, in which customers whose problems are fixed well end up more loyal than customers who never had a problem. The survey's figures, 8.6 against 8.4, point in that direction, but the difference is small and based on 49 buyers. The safer reading is that a quick fix restores customers to where they would have been, which is valuable in itself, and that the brand should not count on problems to build loyalty.

The Thirteen Unresolved Complaints

The worst outcomes came from the 13 complainers whose problems were not fixed, several of whom had been told a squeaking wheel was within normal limits. Their recommendation score, about 4.1, is the lowest of any group, lower even than buyers who said nothing. A complaint that is heard and dismissed appears to do more damage than a problem never raised. The policy of judging some squeaks normal should be dropped for a part that costs a few dollars to replace.

The Public Reviewers

The 38 buyers who posted reviews without contacting the brand matter beyond their own numbers, because their reviews are read by prospective buyers. Several said in the survey that they assumed a review was the quickest way to be noticed. Responding publicly to those reviews with an offer of a part would both help the reviewer and show other shoppers how the brand treats problems.

What the Silence Costs

If the survey's pattern holds across all 3,800 buyers, about 600 had a problem and about 270 said nothing. Their average recommendation score is about two points below that of buyers whose problems were fixed. In a category where parents rely heavily on recommendations from friends and relatives, as the reference group analysis in Unit 8 showed, that gap reaches many future buyers.

Recommendations

Make complaining easy. Place a small printed code on the stroller frame, near the latch, that opens a one-step request for a replacement part.

Contact buyers first. Send a short message at thirty and sixty days asking whether the fold and wheels work smoothly, with a link to request a part.

Ship parts without questions. For latches and wheels, which cost little, send replacements without requiring proof.

Answer public reviews. Respond to reviews mentioning these problems with an offer to send a part, which may reach the 38 who used public channels.

Hoyer et al. (2018) note that firms that encourage complaints can learn about problems early and keep customers who would otherwise leave quietly. The latch and wheel complaints also point to a design or supplier issue that engineering should investigate, since a problem reported by one buyer in six within ninety days is too common to treat as normal wear.

Cost of the Program

A replacement latch or wheel costs the brand about $12 including mailing. Sending parts to every buyer who reports a problem, perhaps 600 a year at current volumes, would cost about $7,200, plus the cost of the thirty- and sixty-day messages. Against the referral value of restoring several hundred buyers' recommendations, the program is inexpensive.

Limits

Survey respondents may differ from nonrespondents, and buyers who had problems may have responded at a different rate from those who did not. The recommendation scores are stated intentions, not observed referrals, and a follow-up that tracked actual referrals through a friend discount code would show whether the intention gap becomes a sales gap.

References

Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, voice, and loyalty: Responses to decline in firms, organizations, and states. Harvard University Press.

Hoyer, W. D., MacInnis, D. J., & Pieters, R. (2018). Consumer behavior (7th ed.). Cengage.

Oliver, R. L. (1980). A cognitive model of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions. Journal of Marketing Research, 17(4), 460-469. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378001700405

Singh, J. (1988). Consumer complaint intentions and behavior: Definitional and taxonomical issues. Journal of Marketing, 52(1), 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224298805200108