Interpreting the social phenomenon of illegitimate complaining

Abstract

This master’s thesis concerns qualitative research into the phenomenon of illegitimate complaints. An attempt is made to offer a complete explanation of illegitimate complaining and the relationship with the drivers, the types of complainants, the rationalizations, and the influence on the customer-company relationship, from the perspective of the customer. Due to the lack of (unambiguous or complete) literature on this subject, a grounded theory approach has been used. Semi-structured interviews were used to provide the clearest possible interpretation. The results show that clusters of drivers and rationalizations for illegitimate complaining behaviour constitute four types of illegitimate complainants (‘Can Opportunist’, ‘Can Planner’, ‘Must’, and ‘Want’) in two different situations. The different situations are illegitimate claims and illegitimate complaints. The situations differ in terms of the main service of the accused and the origin of the subject of the claim/complaint. A clear pattern in the type of illegitimate complainant and the influence on the customer-company relationship is not found.