The Psychology Behind Customer Complaints and Expectations

Anyone who has worked in any kind of role that involves customer service will know that even when brands aim for five-star service and have the most robust policies in place, sometimes things can go wrong. This can lead to disappointed consumers and complaints being raised. However, complaints don’t always arise simply because standards have not been met or service was poor – there are actually powerful psychological factors at play that can affect consumer dissatisfaction. 

Data collected on consumer behaviour has consistently shown that more people take the time to leave reviews about negative experiences than positive ones, with a small percentage of consumers only ever leaving negative reviews.

Research suggests that increased customer satisfaction leads to increased customer loyalty. Understanding the dynamics at play when complaints arise, or customer expectations are not met, can help businesses to effectively address customer concerns and exceed expectations. 

In this article, we will dive into some of the psychological principles that shape customer behaviour and look at some of the factors that motivate complaints. We will look at how these forces influence consumers, as well as how we can leverage our understanding of consumer psychology to improve services and reach efficient and effective resolutions more quickly.

Cognitive Dissonance and Expectation-Reality Gaps

Businesses aim to provide their customers with memorable experiences – but they need to be memorable for all the right reasons.

Generally, customer complaints are initiated for three common reasons:

• A feeling of dissatisfaction with a situation, service or product
• Seeking sympathy
• As a mechanism to initiate change

Cognitive dissonance is that uncomfortable feeling we get when we feel that our behaviour or assumptions are contradicted by new information or the reality of our situation. 

Simply, cognitive dissonance can be explained as:

BELIEF + CONTRADICTION IN REALITY = DISCOMFORT 

It was first talked about as a concept in 1957 when psychologist Leon Festinger published his book A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance plays a role in customer complaints when our experience does not fully align with our expectations. For example, if we buy an item from a brand that we trust but the item turns out to be poor quality, we will feel disappointed and we may also feel annoyed with ourselves for making a bad decision. Similarly, if a brand advertises itself as ethical and free trade but we discover they are manufacturing their items in sweatshops, as consumers we may experience cognitive dissonance for trusting their promises.

Keen marketers, who understand the power of cognitive dissonance, are able to use this knowledge strategically. When brands take steps to address a customer’s potential doubts, before a purchase is even made, they begin to build trust with customers and encourage customer loyalty. This is because they are acknowledging the reality that occasionally a customer’s expectations will not be met. By offering something back, companies are providing their customers a safety net if they come to regret their purchase for any reason. They might do this by:

• Providing genuine reviews and testimonials
• Offering a money-back guarantee
• Offering a trial period
• Doing product demonstrations

One way to try to limit cognitive dissonance is by managing customer expectations. However, this may be complicated by the fact that some customers have unrealistic expectations of a product or service to start with. Sometimes, this is down to the customer themselves; however, many times it is due to misleading marketing tactics. 

Expectation/reality gaps often arise due to four key factors:

• Misunderstanding marketing messages
• False claims or misleading advertising
• Previous experiences (both positive and negative)
• Social influences (including family, friends, the media and social media)

Research suggests that 21st-century customers have higher expectations than customers of years gone by who were often driven by price alone. To stay ahead of competitors, brands need to try to optimise the customer journey at each stage; this includes the full path of interactions a customer has with a brand from awareness to purchase and beyond. 

Businesses and sellers can take steps to try to meet the increased expectations that modern customers have by:

• Providing effective communication
• Adopting a transparent and consistent approach
• Managing customer expectations
• Having a clear understanding of the target audience and advertising accordingly
• Offering timely customer service
• Revisiting and reviewing company procedures frequently

Emotional Responses to Dissatisfaction

Often, purchasing decisions are based on feelings or mood rather than logic, and emotions can play a key role in a customer’s decision to part with their money and trust one brand over another. When a customer feels that their trust in a brand was misplaced, this can also result in an emotional response. 

When customers are dissatisfied, they will often react in an emotional way because they feel:

• Angry
• Frustrated
• Disappointed

When customers part with their money and feel let down by what they have received in return, they may feel they have been misled, lied to or taken advantage of in some way. 

The way we choose to address customer complaints will usually either escalate or defuse the situation. It is important that anyone in a position to deal with customer complaints understands how to deal with these situations empathetically and professionally. 

Customers may show their emotion in their language and behaviour and in how frequently they are contacting customer support regarding their complaint. Their reaction may be influenced by:

• Their perceived control (or lack of control) over the situation
• General dissatisfaction
• Anger or frustration that the situation arose in the first place (cognitive dissonance)
• A feeling of unfairness

Empathy and emotional intelligence are key in resolving customer complaints successfully, as well as an intuitive approach. This means being able to adapt responses based on a customer’s needs and feelings. It is also vital to keep a cool and calm head, even when faced with a particularly challenging customer. 

When dealing with customer complaints, the goal should be reaching a resolution that is satisfactory to all parties and is proportional to the issue in question. When customers are reacting in an emotional way, it is important that they feel listened to and understood. Some businesses try to achieve this by asking this dissatisfied customer what resolution they are hoping for as this gives them back some control over the situation.

Attribution Theory and Blame

In psychology, attribution theory refers to how we attribute causes to everyday events. It is deeply connected with our perceptions and the inferences we make. 

In terms of customer complaints, attribution theory can relate to both the person making the complaint and the service agent who is tasked with handling the complaint.

Attribution theory may affect the way we view the customer and, depending on our view, we may attribute their actions to a specific cause:

• The customer is complaining because they are having a bad day
• The customer is complaining because they are a bad person
• The customer is complaining because they have a legitimate issue

The way we view the customer will likely affect whether we can effectively solve the problem or not.

Similarly, attribution theory will affect the way that we, as consumers, perceive the treatment we get at each stage of the complaints procedure. We may attribute responsibility or blame for our problem to the business itself or to the employees, even if the fault is, for example, due to the manufacturer or delivery courier.

• When it comes to explaining our own behaviours or shortcomings, we are more likely to attribute them to external forces rather than our own traits (in psychology this is called actor-observer bias).
• When it comes to explaining other people’s behaviour, humans often lean towards blaming their internal characteristics and will ignore the role of external factors. Psychologists call this fundamental attribution error and this phenomenon explains why some people have a tendency to blame someone for a situation that is out of their control.
• Sometimes, we also tend to favour information that aligns with our previously existing beliefs or biases; this is called confirmation bias. Let’s say that your business has a lot of poor reviews; customers see them and may unconsciously view their interactions with you as confirming this.

A negative perception of a company can affect relations with new customers, even if they have never shopped with you before. Even the slightest issue can trigger their confirmation bias and cause them to complain. This is another reason it is so important to ensure customer satisfaction and address negative feedback promptly. 

Customers need to feel listened to and valued, even if they are directing blame in the wrong place. If we communicate calmly and clearly with a customer, we can help them to see the reality of the situation. This can be a challenge when emotions are running high and is why we should use empathy and emotional intelligence to disarm angry customers, rather than mirroring their emotions back to them.  

Tips to try to resolve the situation when a customer is directing blame for their issue at you or your workplace:

• Acknowledge their situation
• Take responsibility
• Offer sensible solutions
• Be proactive
• Avoid getting defensive
• Be willing to adapt
• Treat them as an individual

Customers may apportion blame or react in an emotional way when they are dissatisfied for a number of reasons, although this will frequently be due to previous poor experiences. Each time we are faced with a customer who has a problem we have the opportunity to break this cycle and give the customer a positive experience where they feel satisfied with the solution.

Expectation Management and Customer Satisfaction

Trying to ensure that customers have realistic expectations is closely linked to customer satisfaction. Making our advertising and marketing materials attractive whilst keeping expectations realistic can be a difficult balance to get right.

Brands want to attract sales; however, it is also important to have happy and satisfied customers. Customers can easily spread the word about their experiences with your business via online reviews, on social media or through word of mouth. If they are satisfied and spread positive messages about your brand this can put you ahead of your competitors. It may lead to:

• Improved reputation
• Repeat business
• Increased sales

In contrast, dissatisfied customers will be less likely to purchase from a brand again if they had an overall negative experience or experienced poor handling of a complaint. Research shows that unhappy customers are also more likely to share their experiences with others than happy customers. 

If the message of your brand does not match up to reality you are already setting your business up for problems. 

Key strategies to manage customer expectations include:

• Communicate clearly with customers
• Set realistic expectations
• Be transparent
• Use ethical and careful marketing tactics to avoid misleading customers
• Collect customer feedback (and act on it)
• Encourage customer loyalty

A business may receive a complaint from a dissatisfied customer for many reasons, such as:

• Product or service is not as described
• A manufacturing fault
• A miscommunication
• A supply chain problem
• A breakdown with technology (website down, online order not received, tracking info missing)
• A logistics issue
• Product/service found cheaper elsewhere
• Problems with delivery

If a customer raises a complaint, it is important to acknowledge their problem and try to reach a solution rather than to redirect responsibility elsewhere. 

For example, a poor customer service response looks like:

Your problem is due to a manufacturing issue and not down to us; we suggest you contact the manufacturer directly.

This response takes no responsibility for the issue and tells the customer to contact the manufacturer, without providing any information on how to do so. This inconveniences the customer and may make them feel undervalued. It also provides no resolution and reinforces the cognitive dissonance they are experiencing. This response will leave the customer dissatisfied. 

A better response looks like:

We apologise for the problem you have encountered. Please return the faulty item to us within the next 14 days using the pre-paid returns label we will email to you. On receipt, we will inspect the item and provide further clarification, including a refund where necessary. Refunds may take up to 7 days to process. We will also notify the manufacturer of your issue. Again, we apologise for any inconvenience and we appreciate your custom. 

This response takes responsibility, offers clear instructions for both parties and suggests a potential solution. It also offers a realistic timeframe for a resolution. 

You can try to mitigate the chance of a complaint escalating by offering good customer support:

• Making it clear how to contact your business (email, phone number, address or online contact form)
• Having robust company complaint procedures in place that state who is responsible and how to escalate complaints
• Leading from the top-down with management modelling good behaviour
• Analysing your business practices (including sourcing products, supply and delivery)
• Ensuring staff have the training and resources available to deal with complaints

The simplest way to ensure customer satisfaction is to take steps to deliver great service to every customer, every time. 

Five steps to improve customer satisfaction in your business include:

• Offer personalised experiences
• Follow up with customers
• Provide employees with continuous training in customer service
• Leverage the power of technology, ensuring accurate website information, ease of use and checking for issues and bugs on your website frequently
• Consider offering loyalty programmes, rewards or incentives

Dealing with a large volume of complaints can be draining and difficult for staff, therefore managing expectations and ensuring customer satisfaction can also have benefits within a business, such as:

• Improved staff retention
• A more positive working environment
• Better company culture
• Sense of pride

To recap, customers want to deal with businesses that take control of a situation, take responsibility and offer solutions. When blame is redirected elsewhere, including back to the customer, this erodes customer loyalty and leads to an overall poor experience for the customer.

Conclusion

Businesses receive complaints about products and services for a number of reasons and, as some research into consumer behaviour suggests, customer expectations have never been higher. The human psychology behind what drives customer complaints can be complex and may depend on a number of factors including beliefs, behaviours, biases and previous experiences. 

By understanding the psychological drivers behind customer complaints and expectations, we put ourselves in a better position to provide effective solutions. Complaints that are handled well can be turned into an opportunity for learning, growing and making positive changes. This can be achieved by incorporating information about customer psychology into employee training, as well as by reacting to customer complaints on an individual basis, rather than trying to use a scripted or tick box approach.  

Ensuring that customers are satisfied can improve the reputation of your business, increase sales and encourage consumers to be loyal to your brand.