“Don't Forget that Others Are Watching, Too!” The Effect of Conversational Human Voice and Reply Length on Observers’ Perceptions of Complaint Handling in Social Media

When dissatisfied customers voice their complaints on companies’ social media pages, many other consumers can observe such interactions. Yet, only limited research has investigated how complaint handling is perceived by this online audience. Since the final outcome of the complaint is rarely visible publicly, the message characteristics (e.g., length and style) of company replies can represent signaling cues for observers of how the complaint is...