Salesperson characteristics affecting consumer complaint responses

The important relationship between consumer complaint behaviour and brand and store loyalty is well established. The range of factors that favourably influence the outcomes of complaining have received relatively less research attention. Therefore, this study tests the effects of two salesperson source characteristics: willingness to listen and product/store knowledge, on consumer complaint‐related perceptions and intentions in a retail setting. Mall shoppers participated in a consumer complaint experiment to test the hypothesised effects. The results indicate that both characteristics affect customer complaint responses, as well as consumer perceptions of the salesperson and the retail store. The findings of the study demonstrate that salesperson characteristics are important influences on positive or negative consumer complaint responses. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications.     

The psychological nature of subjective memory complaint in non-demented older adults: The respective predictive values of psycho-affective,lifestyle, and cognitive inhibition variables

Introduction/ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate, using path analysis (Lisrel 8.52), the relationships between subjective memory complaint and cognitive inhibition, lifestyle, and psycho-affective variables on a sample of non-demented older adults.MethodOur sample was composed of 109 older adults, who were required to undertake two cognitive inhibition tasks (stroop and verbal fluency) and to respond to scales designed to measure individuals’ psycho-affective status (depression/subjective health) and subjective memory complaint level (Mac Nair). Lifestyle predictors (education and activity levels) were also assessed.Results/ConclusionThis study highlights the importance of adopting a multifactorial approach to the study of subjective memory complaint. In addition to executive variables (verbal fluency task), predictors such as subjective health and activity levels seem to be crucial in our understanding of the psychological nature of subjective memory complaint.     

Links between grievance, complaint and different forms of entitlement

The author argues that different kinds of object relationships underlie the phenomena of grievance and complaint. Grievance is addressed to an object held responsible for a failure of idealisation, and the object is scolded or punished for this failure. Nursing grievance can restore the ideal object in phantasy and block mourning the ideal. With pathological grievance the self is seen as ideal and awareness of dependence on the libidinal other is denied, as are the passage of time and the transience of experience. An attitude of narcissistic entitlement to be special and exempt from ordinary reality is seen as intrinsic to the more persistent and pathological forms of grievance, and this narcissistic entitlement fuels grievance. Turning to complaint, the author argues that complaint is addressed to an object that is less idealised; there is more open acknowledgement of the need for and dependence on the other to realise liveliness. Complaint is the voice of the authentic lively self and intrinsic to complaint is a sense of lively entitlement. The author presents clinical material to illustrate these themes, and to show movement between complaint and grievance. Some technical difficulties in working with grievance are discussed.     

Subjective cognitive complaint in healthy older adults: Identification of major domains and relation to objective performance

This study analyzed complaints across a range of memory domains in middle-aged and older adults, as well as assessed their relationship with objective cognitive performance and personal characteristics. A total of 115 community-dwelling, healthy adults between the ages of 45 and 87 completed the Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (QAM) and were tested with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. A principal component analysis identified seven dimensions of complaint. Difficulty inhibiting internal and external sources of interference when learning or remembering something was the main area of complaint and it was correlated with word-list recall and Digit Symbol. We identified complaints related to a set of memory failures that appear to be more detrimental to autonomy and safety. These were correlated with a measure of functional autonomy and might, therefore, indicate more severe difficulties. Overall, this study provides indications regarding the main domains of memory complaints and identifies which complaints are most reflective of objective cognitive problems.     

尼古丁依赖对男性吸烟者感知戒烟行为控制的预测：社会支持与抱怨批评的作用

考察尼古丁依赖对男性吸烟者感知戒烟行为控制的预测及他人戒烟社会支持和抱怨批评的调节作用。对326名男性吸烟者进行问卷调查,结果显示：（1）尼古丁依赖显著负向预测感知行为控制;（2）社会支持和抱怨批评共同调节两者关系;在高社会支持且低抱怨批评、高抱怨批评且低社会支持的条件下,尼古丁依赖的预测作用不显著。结果说明,高社会支持在尼古丁依赖削弱感知行为控制过程中起缓冲作用,而高抱怨批评削弱社会支持的缓冲作用。     

英国心理咨询的专业化发展及其问题

由于英国咨询与治疗协会及其前身英国咨询协会的不懈努力,英国心理咨询业的专业化发展取得长足进步。表现在：在培训方面,统一课程要求;注重受训者的业务发展;培训对象、时间及费用上有灵活性。在督导方面,实施终身督导;尊重各种流派;坚持授权式和发展式督导,保证督导人员独立行使职责。在资格鉴定或注册方面,严格控制条件和标准。在伦理和投诉方面,出台了内容丰富、独具特色的关于咨询和治疗的伦理规范框架。英国心理咨询所面临的主要问题在于：学校心理咨询的不景气;咨询专业化要求与咨询实际不相吻合;在经济上面临挑战;资格鉴定注册及投诉上存有争议。了解他山之石,对于促进我国心理咨询专业化的健康发展不无裨益。     

关系规范对消费者抱怨意愿及潜在动机的影响模型

现有的关于向企业进行抱怨的研究均建立在“理性人”的假设之上, 而忽视了消费者同时作为“社会人”需要遵循一定的规范。本文引入关系规范的概念(共有关系规范, 交换关系规范), 通过实验的方法探究其对消费者的抱怨意愿及潜在动机的影响。实验一的结果显示在服务失误水平低的情况下, 共有关系规范下的被试相对于交换关系规范下的被试更乐意向企业抱怨, 而在服务失误水平高的情况下, 这种差异不显著。实验二进一步验证了这种关系, 并发现共有关系规范下的被试向企业抱怨, 是为了帮助其发现和改进服务中存在的问题, 以提高服务质量, 具有利他动机。     

Some Thoughts on Terrorism, Moral Complaint, and the Self-Reflexive and Relational Nature of Morality

The contemporary discussion of terrorism has been dominated by deontological and consequentialist arguments. Building upon my previous work on a paradox concerning moral complaint, I try to broaden the perspectives through which we view the issues. The direction that seems to me as most promising is a self-reflexive, conditional, and, to some extent, relational emphasis. What one is permitted to do to others would depend not so much on some absolute code constraning actions or on the estimate of what would optimize overall the resulting well-being but on the precedents that the past actions of those others provided, on the relationships among the participants, on tacit or explicit offers and possible agreements among them, and on the reciprocity (or lack thereof) that ensues.

Blame for constitutivists: Kantian constitutivism and the victim’s special standing to complain

Constitutivists about moral norms are often suspected of providing an overly “self-centered” account of morality which does not take seriously enough morality’s interpersonal nature. This worry seems particularly pressing in the light of recent debates about the relational character of many moral norms. In this paper, I discuss one aspect of this worry, which concerns the special standing to complain which the victims of wrongdoing have. I argue that, contrary to appearances, Kantian constitutivism can explain this latter feature, since there is a special need for remedying the denial of equal moral standing of the victim and the impairment of the victim’s agency which any wrongdoing involves.