The Effect of Verbalized Emotions on Loyalty in Written Complaints

On the basis of current literature on customer dis(satisfaction) a model is developed and tested on the influence of emotions on customer loyalty subsequent to service-related failures. Emotions are shown to be a prime motivator for customer loyalty. A study of actual complaint letters sent to one of australia’s largest multi-channel pay-tv companies was conducted, of which approximately half had remained loyal to the company at least three months after the complaint was resolved and half had terminated their pay-tv subscriptions. Although negative emotions are generally proposed to have a negative influence on repurchase intentions after a service failure, results from our sample of complaint letters indicate that distinctive differences exist with respect to specific emotions. Anger showed to influence loyalty negatively, whereas customers displaying sadness tended to be more loyal. However, the display of positive emotions towards the service firm does not necessarily ensure customer loyalty.