The Impact of Post-Complaint Satisfaction with the Salesperson, Retailer, and Manufacturer on...

Mansfield, Phylis M. and Jacquelyn Warwick (2000), "The Impact of Post-Complaint Satisfaction with the Salesperson, Retailer, and Manufacturer on Relationship Commitment," Proceedings of the American Marketing Association's Summer Educators' Conference, Gregory T. Gundlach and Patrick E. Murphy,

The authors examine relationship between post-complaint satisfaction and commitment to the marketing relationship (i.e., commitment to repurchase). They insist that consumer loyalty is enhanced when problems associated with an exchange are resolved in a satisfactory manner. Results indicate that consumers may form different attitudes towards the salesperson, the distributorship, and/or the manufacturer with regard to the level of satisfaction with a particular exchange. Interestingly, while consumer satisfaction with all three parties was found to be significantly related to the consumer's intent to repurchase from the specific dealer, only consumer satisfaction with the manufacturer was found to impact commitment to repurchase from the manufacturer. Thus, the authors insist that manufacturers should be proactive in assuming responsibility for overall customer satisfaction.