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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Why do restaurant customers engage in negative word-of-mouth?

subject

description

One of the most important complaint behaviour of dissatisfied consumers with a service is negative word-of-mouth. Despite the extensive literature on interpersonal communication, research on word-of-mouth in the context of unsatisfactory experiences still has certain limitations. This study aims to analyze the negative word-of-mouth process investigating the contribution of a set of variables such as level of dissatisfaction, likelihood of success in complaining and negative affects. So we analyze the causal relationships between these variables and we identify direct, indirect and mediators effects. The results were obtained from a sample of dissatisfied customers with restaurants and show dissatisfaction and affects have a direct and positive effect on negative word-of-mouth, while the effect of likelihood of success in complaining is indirect by dissatisfaction. These relationships represent significant business implications and new lines of research to advance the study of this type of response.