An empirical study on the analysis of customer complaint management in commercial sport and fitness clubs

• NAKANISHI Junji

  Fukuoka University of Education, Faculty of Education

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

• 民間スポーツ・フィットネスクラブ経営における顧客苦情マネジメント分析

Abstract

Levitt (1983) maintains that "complaints are a necessity, and one of the surest signs of a bad or declining relationship is the absence of complaints from the customer. Nobody is ever that satisfied, especially not over an extended period of time." Many service business organizations consider customer complaint management, especially effective service recovery, to be an essential relationship marketing strategy for increasing customer commitment and building customer loyalty. The present study examined a conceptual process model of consumer complaint behavior in commercial sport and fitness clubs (CSFCs). Data were collected from a total usable sample of 871 members of three national chain CSFCs (response rate, 93.3% of the necessary sample size of 934). The statistical techniques employed were factor analysis, principal component analysis, Cronbach's reliability analysis, chi-square test, t-test, and one-way ANOVA. The main findings are summarized as follows: 1) Using factor analysis, seven dimensions of perceived service quality (PSQ) emerged: empathy, affinity, assurance, tangibles, responsiveness, competence, and place. 2) PSQ, particularly the four factors of empathy, tangibles, responsiveness, and competence, had a significant effect on negative service evaluation with respect to customer satisfaction. In addition, there was a significant relationship between customer satisfaction and club members' complaint behavior (CB) at a 0.1% level. 3) A total of 42.1% of club members expressed some dissatisfaction with CSFC services. Of the dissatisfied members, 56.7% took no action (potential CB), whereas 43.3% exhibited CB. Of the members who exhibited CB, 61.9% took some form of public action, 8.4% took some form of private action, and 29.7% took a combination of private and public action. 4) A high level of service recovery did not significantly increase members' psychological commitment to the CSFCs, suggesting that the "service recovery paradox" is not applicable to customer complaint management in CSFCs. In the present study, the managerial implications of these results are discussed and tasks for future research are identified.

Journal

• Japanese Journal of Management for Physical Education and Sport

  Japanese Journal of Management for Physical Education and Sport 24 (0), 1-23, 2010

  Japanese Society of Management for Physical Education and Sport

Keywords

• complaints
• customer complaint behavior
• service recovery
• loyalty

Details

• CRID: 1390001206125190784
• NII Article ID: 110009509403
• DOI: 10.24519/jsmpes.24.0_1
• ISSN: 24323470
• ISSN: 24323462
• Text Lang: ja
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed