Analysis of the role of complaint management in the context ofrelationship marketingAuthor: Leticia Su´arez ´Alvarez, University of Oviedo,SpainAbstract This research aims to contribute to the relationship-marketing strategy by studying the role of complaint management in long-term relationships. Two factors distinguish it from other studies: it takes into account two types of customers, consumers and firms, and the result variable selected is the probability of ending an ongoing relationship. Two questionnaires were designed for every population. One of them was auto-administrated to a sample of consumers in the north of Spain, and the other one was sent to a representative sample of Spanish firms. The data analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling. The findings confirm the importance that theory accords to the relationship-marketing strategy, and also provide evidence for the importance of complaint management. Thus having a good complaint-handling system and trained and motivated staff who are fully committed to the firm’s objectives are fundamental requisites for firms to be able to build a stable customer portfolio.Keywords complaint management; relationship marketing; relationship termination; trust; satisfactionIntroductionNowadays, the main task for tourism firms is undoubtedly to deliver superior value to customers. One way that these firms can achieve part of this value is by maintaining quality relationships with their customers. In fact, it is well known that managing these relationships is critical for achieving corporate success.Thus the general aim of the present research is to analyze the most important factors that contribute to relationship stabilization between tourism firms and their customers.This research canters on retail travel agencies. We chose this particular type of tourism firm for two reasons. First, competition between retail travel agencies is becoming much more intense, fundamentally due to the advent of the Internet as an alternative distribution channel for tourism services (Wang & Cheung, 2004). The second reason is the current phenomenon of disintermediation, or the tendency of some tourism service providers to contact the end-customer directly. Because of these two developments, retail travel agencies urgently need to develop a strategy that allows them to maintain a stable portfolio of customers over time if they are to remain in the market for the long term.In order to achieve the proposed objective, we set out a causal model that incorporates a number of factors that can condition the future of the relationships between travel agencies and their customers. Specifically, we chose two variables thathave been much studied in the field of relationship marketing – trust and satisfaction –and one that has received less attention in traditional research –complaint management. In this respect, we are making a novel contribution to the literature. Moreover, and in contrast to what has been common practice in the majority of relationship-marketing studies, we aim to evaluate the effect of these three factors on the outcome variable probability of relationship termination. The main reasons for choosing this variable were, on the one hand, to learn more about the final stage through which an exchange relationship can pass, and, on the other, to determine to what extent the above-mentioned variables are determinant for avoiding relationship breakdown. Firms can consequently foster such variables if appropriate.Finally, and another aspect differentiating our work from previous studies, we analyze the relationships between retail travel agencies and two types of customer: end-consumers and firms (as end-customers). Thus testing the model proposed here, for the two types of customer mentioned, will allow us to carry out a comparative analysis of the role of complaint management between the two contexts, as well as establish the pertinent conclusions and implications.We now look at the theoretical background, which will lead us to propose the causal model to be tested in this work.Key variablesThe marketing literature considers that maintaining a successful long-term relationship with the customer helps a firm achieve a portfolio of satisfied and loyal customers, and that this consequently improves a fi rm’s economic and competitive position in its markets, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of its strategic actions (Yang & Peterson, 2004).However, the question arises as to what leads to a good relationship. There are many answers to this, and it is still much debated among marketing experts .A review of the literature shows that the cornerstone of relationship marketing is a combination of trust and commitment. In turn, these concepts are influenced by the presence of factors such as dependence between the parties, satisfaction, complaint management, the ability to share objectives, communication, switching costs, or investment in specific assets. In the current work, we focus on trust and two of its antecedents: customer satisfaction and complaint management. We chose these variables in view of the importance given to them by the sample elements in the qualitative studies carried out, which we comment on in the empirical part of the work.First, we briefly describe the development of the concepts of trust and satisfaction, which have been widely studied in the marketing field. Subsequently, and in more detail, we analyze complaint management as a determinant factor of relationship stability.With regard to trust, it is important to remember that this is one of the key variables for relationship success. Indeed, much research has analyzed this concept as afundamental element for maintaining satisfactory relationships.In the area of firm–consumer relationships, Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) introduce the notion of trust as a critical factor in successful relationships. These authors suggest that customers should be able to trust their service providers, feel confident in their dealings with them, and be sure that the information that they provide will be treated confidentially. All these considerations are crucial for gaining customers’ loyalty, and help firms to build up a stable customer portfolio, hence decreasing the probability of ending ongoing relationships.Likewise, trust is recognized as an antecedent that determines the intensity of the relationship, the commitment, and the investment that suppliers make in relationship specific assets. In this respect, the definition of trust proposed by Morgan and Hunt (1994) as the confidence that relationship partners have in the reliability and integrity of each other is one of the most widely quoted. In fact, most marketing research focuses on two components of trust: cognitive (derived from confidence in the partner’s reliability), and behavioral (linked to trust in the partner’s intentions, motivations, honesty, and benevolence). Thus empirical studies measure this term using two criteria: credibility and benevolence, and we consider these criteria in the current work (see the Appendix).In turn, customer satisfaction has always been one of the most interesting areas in marketing, both among practitioners and academics. A large number of authors have confirmed that a direct relationship exists between customer satisfaction and loyalty towards the provider (Rust&Zahornik, 1993). From the consumer’s perspective, their satisfaction can be defined as the extent to which their expectations prior to purchase are met or exceeded when they acquire the good or service (Flint, Woodruff, & Gardial, 1997). In the context of the relational exchange between firms, satisfaction transmits the idea that no opportunistic behaviors occur and that one party’s actions are subject to the well-being of the other. In this sense, satisfaction leads to the development of trust, which is key to maintaining a long-term relationship (Ambrose, Hess,&Ganesan, 2007;Farrelly & Quester, 2005).In view of the above, the first hypothesis in this work aims only to confirm that the commonly accepted trust–satisfaction relation holds in the area of study chosen here: H1: The more satisfied customers are with their relationship with the travel agency, the more they will trust the firm.Complaint managementBy ‘complaint management’, we are referring to the way firms deal with the problems that their customers communicate to them about aspects of their service that generate a certain degree of dissatisfaction. However, and in spite of the importance of achieving customer satisfaction nowadays, not all firms follow uniform strategies to manage the complaints coming from their customers.In the context of firm–consumer relationships, Keaveney (1995) says that the twomajor reasons why customers switch service providers are: (1) core service failures and (2) unfavorable service encounters wi th the company’s personnel. In this second case, when customers face a problem, they may respond by exiting, loyalty, or voicing (Tax, Brown,&Chandrashekaran, 1998). V oicing is equivalent to complaining, either to the firm or by word of mouth to third parties. Customers who complain and receive an adequate response to their service failures are more likely to stay (Conlon & Murray, 1996). In short, if the complaint management is satisfactory, the customer is less likely to end the relationship.Likewise, Brown, Cowles, and Tuten (1996) and Tax et al. (1998) point out that effective complaint handling is positively related to customer loyalty and subsequent customer retention.In the context of inter-firm relationships, customer service –and specifically complaint management –is similarly an essential part of maintaining customer relationships. This is because in business-to-business (B2B) markets, the small number of customers and the greater need to create long-term relationships lead to a greater dependence on each particular customer. Complaint management will likewise reduce the intermediaries’ perceived purchase risks.Thus, following Tax et al. (1998), this study proposes a framework of analysis incorporating the satisfaction variable as a determinant of trust, that is, as an antecedent of one of the key variables of relationship marketing. Based on the preceding review, it is hypothesized that:H2a: Customers’ perception that the travel agency is handling complaints adequately increases their trust in it.H2b: Customers’ perception that the travel agency is handling complaints adequately increases the satisfaction they obtain from their relationship with the firm. Probability of relationship terminationInterest in the nature of customer relationships has increased in both the business-to consumer (B2C) and B2B marketing literatures in recent decades. Researchers have, however, shown more interest in relationship growth than in relationship termination (Dwyer, Schurr, & Oh, 1987; Roos, 1999; T¨ahtinen, 2001, 2002). Consequently, we feel it is important to use the probability of relationship termination as the outcome variable to evaluate the role of the variables discussed in the previous sections. After all, much can be gained from determining what factors increase the likelihood of ending an already established relationship, with a view to combating them.In this sense, we can conclude that an exchange relationship can be dissolved or terminated if any one of the economic agents participating in it wants to do so. Taking into account this argument, and regardless of the firm’s intentions, it may be the customers themselves who unilaterally decide to terminate the relationship. Thus, given the costs of building customer relationships, firms will choose those customersthat are potentially most suited to them, and they will even allocate resources to ending unprofitable relationships (Turnbull & Zolkiewski, 1997).To further our understanding of the content of the final stage that relationships can pass through, we now consider the context of the relationship (i.e. consumers or firms). We look at the role complaint management plays in the B2C and B2B areas of analysis.Limitations and future researchWhen assessing the results of this work, we should bear in mind that in both studies the relationships have been evaluated from the customer’s perspective. The retail travel agency’s opinion would have given us a fuller, more objective, and more reliable view of the phenomenon. Equally, the study has been carried out at a particular moment in time, so it has a cross-sectional rather than a longitudinal nature. These limitations allow us to suggest some possible lines of future research.中文译文分析在关系营销方面投诉管理的作用作者：莱迪西亚.苏艾.阿尔瓦雷斯西班牙奥维多大学摘要这项研究旨在通过调查投诉管理在长期关系中的作用来构建关系市场营销战略。