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Research Journal of the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka- Rohana 13, 2021

Introduction

Complaints are generally made by customers who are dissatisfied with the offer.
However, it is important to note that only a fraction of dissatisfied customers

complain while others will spread negative word of mouth (Lu et.al., 2018; Babin,
Zhuang & Borges, 2021). On average, for every customer who complains, there are

more than six others who do not complain but have the same problem or

disappointment (Customer Care Measurement and Consulting, 2015). While the
number may be disputed the importance of handling customer complaints properly

is well documented in the literature. Here creating mechanisms so that customers
can complain easily can contribute to an increasing number of customers raising

their voices at the service provider rather than with a third party creating negative
word of mouth (Cai & Chi, 2018).

Further successful recovery after failure has been identified as an important aspect
of customer repurchases (Lu et al., 2018). Some even suggest that better recovery is

even better than delivering the service right in the first place (McCollough, 2000),
thus providing even more reason for firms to be vigilant. Despite the importance,

there has been very little work done in the area in the Sri Lankan context

(Ponnahennedige, 2021) creating a contextual gap. Thus the main objective of the
paper is to investigate the impact of successful complaint resolution on future

purchases.

Literature Review

One main reason behind customers not complaining about the dissatisfactory
experience is the significant amount of energy and effort which is required to make

the complaint (Gursoy, McCleary, & Lepsito, 2003; Cai & Chi, 2018). The study
divides this effort into two main categories; physical effort and emotional effort and

tests the subsequent physical and cognitive easiness in complaining. “The physical

efforts are related to the energy and resources that individuals have to exert
physically to express their concerns and complain about their dissatisfactory

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