What Is Propensity To Complain?
We’ve all experienced situations as customers where we’ve been upset with a product or service, and NOT complained. Perhaps we’ve been too busy, or it’s not convenient, or the concern we have is really minor. Or, perhaps we believe that complaining will accomplish nothing but waste our time.
On the other hand most of us DO complain sometimes.
As people who servce customers, particularly repeat customers, we may also come across those that seem to complain at the drop of a hat, and people who won’t complain even in the worst situations. People differ.
Propensity To Complain (PTC) is an academic construct that recognizes that some people complain more than others.
Two Ways To Look At PTC
Individual differences are simply differences between individuals that are relatively enduring. One way to think of PTC is that some people are more likely to complain, and others less likely, and that somehow that difference can be explained by personality factors, past experiences, etc.
For example, there is some research to support the hypothesis that women have a higher propensity to complain than men, as they file more medical malpractice suits and complain more about advertising.
Similarly there’s some evidence to support the idea that risk takers complain more often than non-risk takers.
Context differences are not about individuals per se, but about the situations in which a person will complain. So, for example, a person may complain at over-paying $500 on a telephone bill, but won’t complain if the overcharge is fifty cents.
