IMPACT OF CUSTOMER COMPLAINING BEHAVIOUR ON DEFECTION BEHAVIOUR: AN INVESTIGATION ON RETAIL FORMATS IN INDIA

The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of complaining behaviour on defection behaviour based on demographics (gender, age, marital status, education and, income level) of the dissatisfied customers of retail stores. A structured questionnaire was successfully distributed to 600 respondents, who had made purchases from sixty retail formats operated in Delhi and Gurugram belonging to the domain of Shopping Malls, Hypermarket, Supermarket, Department Stores, Discount stores and Category Killers through systematic stratified sampling for the collection of data. Out of 377 valid ones questionnaires for analysis, a set of 89 responsents have shown dissatisfaction about the retail store products and services and have taken in this study (N=89). Multiple regression analysis with forward selection was employed to predict the effect of complaining actions on defection behaviour based on demographics (gender, age, marital status, education and, income level) of the dissatisfied customers of retail stores. The study has found a significant effect of complaining actions on defection behaviour of dissatisfied customers of retail stores based on their education qualification and income level. However, gender, age and maritial status of dissatisfied customers did not moderate the the relationship between complaining actions and switching behaviour. The recommendations for managers are also discussed.