Complaining intentions and their relationships to complaining behavior of academic library users in South Korea
| Date | 01 March 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120610652914 |
| Pages | 168-189 |
| Published date | 01 March 2006 |
| Author | Dong‐Geun Oh |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Complaining intentions and their
relationships to complaining
behavior of academic library
users in South Korea
Dong-Geun Oh
Department of Library and Information Science, Kei-Myung University,
Taegu, South Korea
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to investigate the influences of the selected antecedents on each type of
complaining intentions and its relationship to complaining behavior of 582 university library users in
South Korea.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a survey, using a convenience
sample of 582 dissatisfied university library users from five major universities located in Taegu
Metropolitan City and Kyoung-pook Province in South Korea. The sample was proportionate to
general users in the university libraries in these areas.
Findings – Perceived severity of dissatisfaction and personal norms had significant influences on the
choice of negative word-of-mouth intention, direct and indirect voice intentions, and third-party
complaint intention. Societal benefits had significant influences on the choice of exit, negative
word-of-mouth intention, and direct and indirect voice intentions. Difficulty of complaining and
service importance had significant influences on negative word-of-mouth intention, and likelihood of
success had significant influences on the direct and indirect voice intentions. There were significant
relationships between experiences of doing the same types of complaining behavior before and the
same types of complaining intentions.
Research limitations/implications – This study was explorato ry inorder to separate complaining
intentions from the complaining behavior itself. Some variables, including external attribution and
loyalty, which were not proved to be critical variables for complaining intentions, need to be
investigated further to investigate whether or not they can be a useful variable for complaining
behavior and intentions of academic library users. Some results from this study did not confirm the
results of the study on the public library users that measured the complaint behavior and intentions
together. Compared with the results of the study on the public library users, the values of adjusted R
square in the regression of each dependent variables were much higher in this study except for the
case of exit intention.
Practical implications – This study proved that the complaining intention model, separated from
complaining behavior, could successfully be applied to academic library services.
Originality/value – Opines that feedback information through complaints can solve many problems
and/or improve performance and service quality – and eventually help libraries satisfy their
customers.
Keywords Library management,Consumer behaviour, Complaints,Academic libraries, South Korea
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
LM
27,3
168
Received 22 October 2005
Accepted 23 November 2005
Library Management
Vol. 27 No. 3, 2006
pp. 168-189
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120610652914
Introduction
Complaints had traditionally been regarded as negative responses from dissatisfied
people and most of the management had tried to prevent and reduce them to the lowest
level. But recent studies in marketing consider negative responses as useful feedback
and as “indispensable indicators of unsatisfactory performance” (Phau and Sari, 2004,
p. 407). It has been found that complaints have enabled firms to become aware of
problems in service and have been able to improve their performance accordingly.
Understanding customer complaining behavior and handling the complaints
effectively “can increase customer commitment to the library, build customer
loyalty, and satisfy the customers” (Oh, 2003, p. 60).
This article is second part of the study on the complaining behavior and intentions
of university library users in South Korea. This study, unlike other previous research
on the subject, separated the complaining behavior itself and complaining intentions as
different dimensions. Complaining behavior itself was measured by “yes or no”
questions whereas complaining intentions were measured by items on five-point
scales. This article focuses on the complaining intentions and their relationships to
complaining behavior of 582 university library users in South Korea (For the first part
on the complaining behavior, see Oh, 2004).
Complaining behavior of library users is useful in itself but it is also valuable to
consider future complaints as an invaluable source of managerial and staff information
for the future:
.Will the antecedents of complaining behavior have significant influences on each
type of the complaining intentions of the academic library users?
.Will the experiences of doing each type of complaining behavior (complaint
responses) to the library have significant relationships with each type of
complaining intentions, respectively?
Based on the former study by Oh (2004), this article categorizes the complaining
intentions as follows:
.Exit intention is an intention to never again utilize the offending library or the
service.
.Negative word-of-mouth intention is an intention to tell others about ones
dissatisfaction (i. e. complaint intention about the library and/or the service to
friends and/or relatives).
.Direct voice intention is an intention to complain directly to the library at the
time of dissatisfaction.
.Indirect voice intention is an intention to complain indirectly to the library using
complaint cards, e-mail, etc, later on.
.Third-party complaint intention is an intention to direct formal complaints
towards agencies not directly involved in the exchange relationship.
Literature review
Recently, there has been much interest in user satisfaction and custome r “delight” in
the area of library and information center management. Related studies have been
Complaining
intentions and
behavior
169
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