DOCSLIB.ORG

A Taxonomy of Customer Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Based on Dissatisfaction-Related Goals

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Taxonomy of Customer Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Based on Dissatisfaction-Related Goals University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2004 A Taxonomy of Customer Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Based on Dissatisfaction-Related Goals Andrew B. Artis University of Knoxville, Tennessee Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons Recommended Citation Artis, Andrew B., "A Taxonomy of Customer Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Based on Dissatisfaction-Related Goals. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2004. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1884 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Andrew B. Artis entitled "A Taxonomy of Customer Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Based on Dissatisfaction-Related Goals." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Business Administration. Dr. Sarah F. Gardial, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Dr. Tom Ladd, Dr. John T. Mentzer, Dr. Robert B. Woodruff Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Andrew B. Artis entitled "A Taxonomy of Customer Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Based on Dissatisfaction- Related Goals." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Business Administration. Dr. Sarah F. Gardial Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Dr. Tom Ladd Dr. John T. Mentzer Dr. Robert B. Woodruff Accepted for the Council: Dr. Anne Mayhew Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) A TAXONOMY OF CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION-RELATED COPING TACTICS BASED ON DISSATISFACTION-RELATED GOALS A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Andrew B. Artis December, 2004 Copyright © 2004 Andrew Benedict Artis, Sr. All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Julie, and our children, Ben and Emily. Obtaining my Ph.D. has been one of my life ambitions, and it is their love and companionship that gives this achievement real meaning. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS While completion of this dissertation is a milestone in my academic career, it would be arrogant of me to take more than just a small amount of credit for its creation or completion. First, I need to thank my parents. Mom, thank you for planting within me a curious mind and the fortitude to endure the search for knowledge. Dad, I'm sorry you aren't here to share this moment, but thank you for giving me a strong work ethic. Second, I want to thank my siblings and my in-laws. Thank you all for believing in me even when I had my own doubts, and for making me laugh when I took myself too seriously. Completing this dissertation, and with it my Ph.D., was much like running a marathon. A marathon is tough enough, but when you are a sprinter like me it can be deadly. Thus, I want to recognize and thank all those people who coached me along the way and helped me to develop the skills and the mental endurance to cross the finish line. Special thanks need to go to my head trainer and dissertation chair, Sarah Gardial. Thank you for being such a great mentor, for reminding me to be more balanced with my family and career, and for reminding me why I wanted to pursue scholarship in the first place. You are the best dissertation chair ever. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee for their time and support: Bob Woodruff, Tom Mentzer, and Tom Ladd. Your insights greatly improved this research. Special thanks also to the College of Business for the grant to conduct this research. I’d like to thank the teachers who taught my graduate seminars. Seminars make the student, and professors make the seminars. Thanks to Bob Woodruff, Dave Schumann, Tom Mentzer, Tom Ladd, Ernie Cadotte, Frank Davis and Sarah Gardial. I iv will build upon the foundation you created, and will remain grateful for your time and talents. Finally, I want to thank all the other Ph.D. students who befriended me when I came into the program, and those I befriended along the way. It is the people at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville that made this experience so very special, and chief among them were my compatriots in the marathon. Had they not carried me during long stretches of the race I would have never been able to break the tape at the finish line. v ABSTRACT Practitioners who want to strengthen their market position and avoid greater government regulation would benefit from research that helps them to effectively resolve the problems experienced by their customers. Unfortunately, research efforts to explore, understand, and ultimately predict the responses of dissatisfied customers have been sporadic and have failed to lead to a sustained program of research. This problem is due in part because classification and taxonomical issues have not been sufficiently resolved. Without a theoretically-supported method to categorize and differentiate the various ways that customers respond to dissatisfaction, research into this phenomenon will continue to be slow and erratic. In an attempt to resolve this problem, a new taxonomy to classify the coping tactics of dissatisfied customers is proposed and tested within this dissertation. The theory of goal-directed behavior, as conceptualize by Bagozzi and Dholakia (1999), is used to show that dissatisfaction-related goals can moderate the responses of dissatisfied customers. These goals are then used to categorize dissatisfied customer responses into a new taxonomy comprised of 20 dissatisfaction coping tactics. Four scales were developed and administered to a student sample to measure the causal relationship between the dissatisfaction-related goals (prevention, accommodation, redress, and retaliation) and the dissatisfaction-related coping tactics employed by customers. Findings are interpreted to support the existence of the dissatisfaction-related goals of prevention, accommodation, and retaliation, but there is insufficient support for the goal of redress. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One – Specify the Problem and Convey Its Importance 1 Introduction 1 The Research Question 4 The Unit of Analysis: Customer Response to Dissatisfaction 5 The Central Constructs Under Investigation 7 Organization of the Remainder of this Chapter 9 Customer Dissatisfaction is a Problem of National Importance 9 Customer Dissatisfaction is a Current and Substantive Issue 12 Need for Better Recovery Strategies to Improve Retention Rates 16 Detecting Customer Dissatisfaction 23 Importance to Business-to-Business Research 24 Importance of the Proposed Taxonomy to Marketing Research 25 Explanation of Conceptual Model 30 Dissatisfaction as a Separate Phenomenon 31 Role of Dissatisfaction within the Model 34 Cognitive-Emotive Appraisal Process 39 The Formation of Dissatisfaction-Related Goals 45 Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics 47 Appraisal of Tactics, Seller Responses, and DRG Attainment 49 Conclusions to be drawn from the Conceptual Model 50 A Look Ahead 51 Chapter Two – Literature Review 53 Introduction 53 Methods of Coping for Customers Motivated by Dissatisfaction 54 Hirschman's Exit-Voice-Loyalty Theory 55 Day-Landon's Public-Private Actions Classification 58 Singh's Voice-Private-Third Party Classification 63 Need for an Improved Classification System 73 Classification by General Method of Dissatisfaction-Related 75 Coping Tactics Internal Self-Directed Responses 77 External Self-Directed Responses 79 Voice Coping Tactics Involving the Seller 81 Voice Coping Tactics Involving Peers 83 Third-Party Directed Responses 84 The Role of Goal-Directed Behavior in the Selection of 86 Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Cognitive Processing and Goal Formation 88 Emotive Processing and Goal Formation 90 Dissatisfaction-Related Goal of Prevention 93 vii Dissatisfaction-Related Goal of Accommodation 95 Dissatisfaction-Related Goal of Redress 97 Dissatisfaction-Related Goal of Retaliation 99 Using Goal-Directed Behavior to Show How 101 DRGs and DRCTs Interact Proposed Taxonomy Based on the Dissatisfaction-Related 103 Goals of Customers Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Associated With the 109 Goal of Prevention Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Associated With the 116 Goal of Accommodation Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Associated With the 123 Goal of Redress Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Associated With the 130 Goal of Retaliation Critique of the Dissatisfaction-Related Goals Taxonomy 138 Chapter Two Review 143 Chapter Three – Research Methodology 144 Introduction 144 Review of Exploratory Research Methods
Load more

Recommended publications
  • PARTIES of RECORD in R.00-02-004 Decision 06-03-013 Is Being Mailed Without the Written Dissent of Commiss
    STATE OF CALIFORNIA ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION 505 VAN NESS AVENUE SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102-3298 March 9, 2006 TO: ALL PARTIES OF RECORD IN R.00-02-004 Decision 06-03-013 is being mailed without the written dissent of Commissioner Grueneich. The dissent will be mailed separately. Very truly yours, /s/ Angela K. Minkin Angela K. Minkin, Chief Administrative Law Judge ANG:mal Attachment 226372 COM/MP1/mal MAILED 3/9/2006 DECISION 06-03-013 March 2, 2006 BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Order Instituting Rulemaking on Rulemaking 00-02-004 the Commission’s Own Motion to (Filed February 3, 2000) establish Consumer Rights and Protection Rules Applicable to All Telecommunications Utilities. DECISION ISSUING REVISED GENERAL ORDER 168, MARKET RULES TO EMPOWER TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSUMERS AND TO PREVENT FRAUD 226372 - 1 - R.00-02-004 COM/MP1/mal TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................2 2. PROCEDURAL HISTORY...................................................................................7 3. REVIEW OF RECORD EVIDENCE..................................................................16 3.1 EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN SUPPORT OF NEW RULES....................................17 3.1.1 Consumer Complaint Records.....................................................17 3.1.2 Survey Data.....................................................................................25 3.1.3 Enforcement Actions .....................................................................28
    [Show full text]
  • Challenges to Consumer Policy in the Digital Age
    www.oecd.org/sti/consumer CHALLENGES www.oecd.org/going-digital TO CONSUMER http://oe.cd/digital-economy-papers POLICY IN THE @OECDInnovation DIGITAL AGE Background Report G20 International Conference on Consumer Policy TOKUSHIMA, JAPAN 5-6 SEPTEMBER 2019 2 CHALLENGES TO CONSUMER POLICY IN THE DIGITAL AGE This report is issued under the responsibility of the Secretary General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries or of the G20. This document, as well as any data and any map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law. © OECD, 2019 © OECD 2019 CHALLENGES TO CONSUMER POLICY IN THE DIGITAL AGE 3 Foreword The digital transformation that is underway in our economies and societies has provided consumers with a wealth of commercial opportunities while also bringing a number of new and emerging risks. This report provides an overview of selected key benefits and challenges faced by digital consumers, in support of discussions at the G20 International Conference on Consumer Policy in Tokushima, Japan on 5-6 September 2019. It focuses on six issue areas of particular importance to policy makers: adjusting policy to rapidly changing technologies (Chapter 1) strengthening cross-border co-operation (Chapter 2) enhancing the impact of product recalls in the digital age (Chapter 3) dispute resolution and redress and new technologies (Chapter 4) the role of consumer protection agencies in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (Chapter 5) protecting vulnerable consumers in the digital age (Chapter 6).
    [Show full text]
  • A Longitudinal Study of Complaining Customers' Evaluations of Multiple
    Towards A New Model of ‘Customer Compliance’ Service Provision Edward Kasabov and Alex J Warlow KEYWORDS: customer centricity, online services, service recovery, customer (dis)satisfaction 1 Edward Kasabov is an ESRC/EPSRC AIM Research Associate in the Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM), London, WC1B 5DN. Edward is a also a Leader of RM Group and Senior Lecturer, Coventry University Business School, Coventry, CV1 2DS. email: [email protected]. tel. 0044-7981568528. Alex J Warlow is an Institute of Direct Marketing Fellow and the Director of Noridol Ltd., Wales SA63 4RD. email: [email protected]. tel. 0044-7917147906. 2 ABSTRACT Purpose: In the last 10 years, businesses taking advantage of market deregulation, call-centre, Intranet and Internet technology have broken traditional marketing norms and path dependent customer management practices. These businesses offer substantially lower prices and good customer service. In spite of anecdotal evidence of the high level of service complaints in the press, these businesses are expanding rapidly by growing the market and by taking share from traditional suppliers. Service failure recovery and complaint management are two areas which are extensively re-designed by such businesses. This paper identifies and examines such new practices. The authors suggest that the traditional ‘customer-centricity’ model is being replaced by a ‘customer-compliance business model’ (CCBM) of service provision. This new model and its propositions defy conventional thinking in the areas of service recovery and complaint management. Design/Methodology/Approach: Available data and research are reviewed, in an attempt to understand CCBM. Differences with the customer-centricity model are discussed.
    [Show full text]
  • Manual on Consumer Protection
    UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT UNCTAD MANUAL ON CONSUMER PROTECTION Edition 2016 Advance copy i Manual on Consumer Protection NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations secretariat concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This is an unedited publication. Material in this publication may be freely quoted or reprinted, but acknowledgement is requested, together with a reference of the document number. A copy of the publication containing the quotation or reprint should be sent to the UNCTAD secretariat. This publication is an advance copy of the Manual on Consumer Protection. Please send your comments to: [email protected] UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION UNCTAD/WEB/DITC/CLP/2016/1 Copyright © United Nations, 2016 All rights reserved. Printed in Kenya Manual on Consumer Protection ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Manual on Consumer Protection was revised in 2016 by Robin Simpson, lead consultant, and a team comprising Marisa Henderson, Graham Mott, Maria Bovey and Arnau Izaguerri. The work was completed under the overall supervision of Guillermo Valles, Director of the Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities. The manual benefited from major substantive input by: Celine Awuor, consultant specialist in consumer protection in financial services; Thierry Bourgoignie, Groupe de recherche en droit International et comparé de la consommation, Université du Québec à Montréal; Liz Coll, specialist consultant in digital consumer policy; Ms Ha Dinh; Mr Julian Edwards, consumer policy consultant; Alan Etherington, consultant, water and sanitation; Christopher Hodges, University of Oxford; Sadie Homer, specialist, consumers and international standards; Claudia Lima Marques, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul; Jeremy Malcolm, Electronic Frontier Foundation; Robert N.
    [Show full text]
  • CONSUMER PROTECTION Guide
    CONSUMER PROTECTION guide PREPARED BY THE MICHIGAN LEGISLATURE Dear Friend: In today’s complex marketplace we, as consumers, often run into problems. The questions are: What do you do about them? What are your legal rights as a consumer? Who do you turn to for help? Where do you find needed information? How do you protect yourself against fraud? This book was created to answer those and other consumer questions. It also lists federal, state, county, and local agencies and consumer and business organizations that offer services, advice, and assistance for consumers. These agencies and organizations can provide you with valuable information and also assist you with any consumer-related problem you may have. Please feel free to contact them. Being a knowledgeable consumer is your first line of defense against fraud. Read this book and be an informed consumer! Table of Contents Consumer Rights/Protection How to Complain ................................................................... 3 You Can Protect Yourself ......................................................... 4 Taking Legal Action ................................................................. 5 Michigan Consumer Protection Act .......................................... 8 Checking Account/Deposit Information .................................. 12 Your Rights as a Utility Customer in Michigan ........................ 14 Health Insurance Reform .......................................................... 17 Home Improvement Programs Home Improvement Loans .....................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Protecting and Empowering Consumers in the Purchase of Digital Content Products”, OECD Digital Economy Papers, No
    Please cite this paper as: OECD (2013-03-19), “Protecting and Empowering Consumers in the Purchase of Digital Content Products”, OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 219, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k49czlc7wd3-en OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 219 Protecting and Empowering Consumers in the Purchase of Digital Content Products OECD Unclassified DSTI/CP(2011)25/FINAL Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Économiques Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 19-Mar-2013 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ English - Or. English DIRECTORATE FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER POLICY Unclassified DSTI/CP(2011)25/FINAL REPORT ON PROTECTING AND EMPOWERING CONSUMERS IN THE PURCHASE OF DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCTS English - Or. English JT03336531 Complete document available on OLIS in its original format This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. DSTI/CP(2011)25/FINAL FOREWORD This report, which is part of the Committee on Consumer Policy’s review of the OECD’s 1999 Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce, examines trends and consumer challenges in the purchase of digital content products. It was discussed by governments, businesses and civil society at a roundtable and a workshop on digital content products organised, respectively, in April 2011 and April 2012, at the OECD. The report, which was further discussed by the committee at its 84th session in October 2012, was prepared by Brigitte Acoca, with the assistance of Ayako Terauchi, of the OECD’s Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry.
    [Show full text]
  • Dispute Resolution and Redress
    United Nations TD/B/C.I/CPLP/11 United Nations Conference Distr.: General 30 April 2018 on Trade and Development Original: English Trade and Development Board Trade and Development Commission Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy Third session Geneva, 9 and 10 July 2018 Item 3 (d) of the provisional agenda Dispute resolution and redress Note by the UNCTAD secretariat Executive summary This note considers the issue of consumer dispute resolution and redress in the light of the United Nations guidelines for consumer protection. It introduces the rationale for and the legal nature of dispute resolution and redress, and presents current avenues for delivering resolution and redress, namely through courts, collective redress, public regulatory and enforcement action, ombudspersons, alternative dispute resolution, online dispute resolution and business customer care and complaint functions. In addition, the note provides policy options for member States implementing the guidelines on dispute resolution and redress and proposes questions for discussion by the third session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy. GE.18-06826(E) TD/B/C.I/CPLP/11 Introduction 1. The right of consumers to redress is at the centre of modern consumer protection policy. In an address to the Congress of the United States of America in 1962, President John F. Kennedy stated that consumer rights included “the right to be heard – to be assured that consumer interests will receive full and sympathetic consideration [and] fair and expeditious treatment [in] tribunals”.1 The preliminary programme of the European Economic Community for a consumer protection and information policy, with regard to redress, stated as follows: “Consumers should receive advice and help in respect of complaints and of injury or damage resulting from purchase or use of defective goods or unsatisfactory services.
    [Show full text]
  • Consumers' Complaint Behaviour. Taxonomy, Typology and Determinants
    Consumers’ complaint behaviour. Taxonomy, typology and determinants: Towards a unified ontology Received (in revised form): 16th August, 2003 Dominique Crie´ is Professor of marketing at the University of Sciences and Technologies of Lille, in the Business Administration Department (IAE). He manages the postgraduate degree course: statistical specialisation for marketing databases. He is also a marketing consultant and statistician, member of the Association Franc¸ aise de Marketing and of the Socie´te´Franc¸ aise de Statistiques. His research focuses on the customer relationship, particularly in relation to satisfaction, loyalty and retention. Abstract Complaint behaviour is a set of consumer dissatisfaction responses. It is an explicit expression of dissatisfaction, but dissatisfaction is only one determinant of this behaviour. Complaint behaviour can be analysed as various types of response but also as a process. This paper proposes an integrated framework of the various theories of complaint behaviour leading toward a unified ontology and to interpreting it from a new perspective. INTRODUCTION ‘complainers’ and ‘non-complainers’, this This paper reviews a concept still paper tries to track down the main relatively rarely considered by companies: dimensions of the CCB taxonomy consumer complaint behaviour. Within throughastructuralisationofits the framework of the relationship determinants within a diachronic paradigm, complaint behaviour is a approach — the objective being to powerful signal which companies should propose a clarified conceptual and take into account. On the one hand, it theoretical framework to integrate the gives an organisation a last chance to large variety of works on the subject. retain the customer, if the organisation The conclusion highlights a synthesis of reacts appropriately, on the other hand it this conceptual structure with regard to a is a legitimate and ethical act toward the unified ontology.
    [Show full text]
  • Federal Register/Vol. 80, No. 56/Tuesday, March 24, 2015/Notices
    Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 56 / Tuesday, March 24, 2015 / Notices 15583 Database where consent for publication financial domain, e.g., credit card BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL is first obtained from the consumer. numbers; and (3) identifiers which the PROTECTION Only those narratives for which opt-in Bureau knows appear in complaints and [Docket No. CFPB–2015–0013] consumer consent is obtained and a could reasonably be used to identify robust personal information scrubbing individuals, e.g., personal information Request for Information Regarding the standard and methodology is applied pertaining to third parties other than the Consumer Complaint Database will be eligible for disclosure. company that is the subject of the complaint. All consumer complaint data AGENCY: Consumer Financial Protection B. Consumer Consent To Disclose Bureau. Narratives shared via the Consumer Complaint Database will be subject to this standard ACTION: Notice and request for The Bureau intends to disclose only and methodology, including, e.g., ZIP information. narratives for which informed consent code. The Bureau plans to make this SUMMARY: has been obtained and that have been scrubbing standard available on the The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the ‘‘Bureau’’) is scrubbed for personal information. To Bureau’s Web site. The scrubbing issuing a Notice and Request for obtain informed consumer consent, the methodology contemplates a computer- Information (‘‘RFI’’) to solicit and Bureau plans to give consumers who based automated step and a quality collect input from the public on the submit a complaint the opportunity to assurance step or steps performed by potential collection and sharing of check a consent box, with human reviewers.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018 Consumer Complaint Survey Report
    2018 Consumer Complaint Survey Report July 30, 2019 1620 Eye Street, NW, Suite 200 | Washington, DC 20006 | (202) 387-6121 | ConsumerFed.org Table of Contents INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3 KEY FINDINGS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4 TOP COMPLAINTS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5 FASTEST-GROWING COMPLAINTS…………………………………………………………………………………….. 6 WORST COMPLAINTS………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6 NEW CONSUMER PROBLEMS……………..……………………………………………………………………………. 7 NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS…………………………………………………………………………………….... 7 REAL-WORLD COMPLAINTS AND WHAT CONSUMERS SHOULD DO………………………………….. 10 AUTO…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10 COMMUNICATIONS…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 14 CREDIT/DEBT……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15 FRAUD…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17 HEALTH PRODUCTS/SERVICES……………………………………………………………………………… 19 HOME IMPROVEMENT/CONSTRUCTION……………………………………………………………… 21 HOME SOLICITATIONS…………………………………………………………………………………………. 26 HOUSEHOLD GOODS……………………………………………………………………………………………. 27 IDENTITY THEFT……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 29 INTERNET SALES…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 29 LANDLORD/TENANT…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 31 PETS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 32 REAL ESTATE………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 33 RETAIL SALES……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 34 SERVICES……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 36 SHARING ECONOMY……………………………………………………………………………………………. 39 TIMESHARES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
    [Show full text]
  • Direct Marketing Q&A: US
    Direct marketing Q&A: US, Practical Law Country Q&A 9-102-2030 (2017) Direct marketing Q&A: US by Alan Friel, Baker & Hostetler Country Q&A | Law stated as at 30-Nov-2017 | United States The regulation of unsolicited commercial communications In the United States, federal and state laws limit and regulate the way in which companies communicate with individuals and other businesses for marketing, advertising, fundraising, and other related purposes. These laws affect the manner in which companies can call, text, mail, e-mail, or fax consumers. Two of the most important federal laws governing this field are the: • Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act (Telemarketing Act), and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) regulations issued under it by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). • Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), enacted by Congress and regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Both laws apply to telemarketing calls, but the TCPA also contains provisions that apply to other types of calls, text messages, and fax advertisements. These rules often overlap, but they also contain key differences in scope including who can enforce them. In addition, direct marketing by e-mail and direct mail is regulated in the United States most notably by the federal CAN-SPAM Act, which largely pre-empts state laws and covers e-mail, and the federal Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act (DMPEA), which governs physical mail. US privacy and data security laws, and laws regulating false advertising, and promotions such as sweepstakes and contests, are also relevant to direct marketing. These laws are at both the federal and state level, often with great differences in the laws from state to state.
    [Show full text]
  • Which Communities Complain to Policymakers? Evidence from Consumer Sentinel
    WORKING PAPERS Which Communities Complain to Policymakers? Evidence from Consumer Sentinel Devesh Raval WORKING PAPER NO. 336 July 2018 FTC Bureau of Economics working papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comment. The analyses and conclusions set forth are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of other members of the Bureau of Economics, other Commission staff, or the Commission itself. Upon request, single copies of the paper will be provided. References in publications to FTC Bureau of Economics working papers by FTC economists (other than acknowledgment by a writer that he has access to such unpublished materials) should be cleared with the author to protect the tentative character of these papers. BUREAU OF ECONOMICS FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, DC 20580 Which Communities Complain to Policymakers? ∗ Evidence from Consumer Sentinel Devesh Raval Federal Trade Commission [email protected] July 10, 2018 Abstract I use a large database of millions of complaints to examine how per-capita complaint rates vary across communities, as well as heterogeneity in complaining across different agencies and consumer protection issues. I find higher complaint rates in more heavily black, more edu- cated, and more urban communities and lower complaint rates in more heavily Hispanic and higher household size communities. The demographics of complaints are quite different for the CFPB, with much higher rates of complaints from black and college educated areas compared to the FTC or BBBs. I also find much higher rates of finance related complaints from black communities. Keywords: consumer complaint and dispute, customer satisfaction, public data, demographics ∗The views expressed in this article are those of the author.
    [Show full text]