The role of virtual present others in complaint handling: How identification shapes perceptions of brand responses
Keywords
Loading...
Authors
Issue Date
2025-07-01
Language
en
Document type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Title
ISSN
Volume
Issue
Startpage
Endpage
DOI
Abstract
As customer complaints increasingly unfold on social media, organizations should consider not
only the complainant but also virtual present others observing these interactions. This study
investigates how identification with the complainant influences VPOs’ evaluations of an
organization’s accommodative or defensive response strategies. The focus lies on two key
outcomes: brand perception and perceived interactional justice.
An online experiment (N = 133) is conducted, in which participants were randomly
assigned the role of either complainant or VPO and were exposed to a written scenario featuring
one of the two response strategies. Identification among VPOs is measured and divided into
high and low identification groups. Independent samples t-test are performed to compare the
evaluations of VPOs with those of the complainant.
The results show no significant difference between high- and low-identifying VPOs in
how similarly they evaluate responses compared to complainants. Additionally, low-identifying
VPOs evaluated defensive strategies more positively than complainants, but this effect is not
consistent across all outcomes.
These findings highlight the importance of considering virtual present others in service
recovery settings and suggest that identification can play a nuanced role in shaping brandrelated
perceptions.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen