How often do you find yourself complaining about a bad retail experience? Researchers of a new study found that the answer to this question may be different for men and women, according to a press release.
Almost all of us have had at least one bad retail experience and we tend to rant about it to whoever lends us an ear. So how do we choose who we rant our dissatisfaction to? A new study found that men and women engage in negative word of mouth advertising differently.
Participants of the study were asked to recall any dissatisfying retail experience and report how likely they were to narrate the incident to others. Researchers of the study took note of the level of concern among participants about what others thought of them when they ranted their displeasure and also how these negative messages were transmitted.
At the end of the study researchers found that when men were most concerned about their own reputation, they hardly complained about any bad retail experiences. However, when women were concerned about their reputation, they complained to strangers about the displeasure. On other occasions they preferred telling close friends about their dissatisfying experience.
"Negative word-of-mouth advertising is the most persuasive form of marketing communication. Whether or not you engage in this type of behavior depends on whether you are a male or a female, whether the person you are talking to is a close friend or just an acquaintance, and whether or not you are concerned about impairing your image (that is, admitting you are not a smart consumer)," said authors Yinlong Zhang from the University of Texas, San Antonio.
"Prior research has assumed that negative word-of-mouth transmission is largely a function of product performance, and that social factors play a negligible role. Our research, in contrast, shows that social factors -- particularly those related to a person's gender -- can crucially affect whether or not people will complain," the authors said. "Moreover, there may be some product categories (fashion goods, for example) where people may be more concerned about their image and less likely to admit when something went wrong."
Negative word of mouth can severely damage or even destroy a business. Understanding the impact of negative word of mouth can help businesses prevent the types of bad scenarios that prompt consumers to speak unfavorably about them. It can also help them learn how to improve and strengthen their brand and their customer relationships.
Findings of the study were published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
