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

experiences” (Berry et al., 2002). The more effort one has to exert, the more

outcome he or she expects in return (Oliver & Swan, 1989). Cognitive/emotional

efforts on the other hand are a typical type of energy individuals utilize to process
information to make decisions (Gibbs & Drolet, 2003; Lu et.al., 2018). When the

service environment requires more cognitive/emotional efforts to process the

information, consumers often choose not to complain and walk away while being
dissatisfied (Fiske & Taylor, 1984; Lu et.al., 2018).

Then the study looked at the complaint handling process and whether the individual

customer is satisfied with the complaint handling process. The study termed it
“complaint satisfaction” refers to customers’ perception about how the service

failure was handled (Van Vaerenbergh, Orsingher, Vermeir & Larivière, 2014). It
has been ascertained that when consumers have to exert more effort in order to

complain and because the complaining process is complex, it is less likely that

customers will be satisfied with the overall experience (Lu et al., 2018).

Next, the study investigates the concept of Brand Image and its mediating role in the
complaint handling process. Brand Image can be defined as the “perceptions of the

brand by the consumers as represented by the brand associations in the consumers'

memory” (Keller, 1998). Companies always thrive on positive brand images since
they are directly linked to positive attitudes towards the brand and the acceptance of

the brand by customers (Kang & James, 2004; Amron, 2018).

Customer Loyalty was investigated by dividing it into two areas: attitudinal loyalty
and loyalty (Cheng, 2011). Attitudinal loyalty is a consumer’s identification with a

particular service provider and preference of a product or service over alternatives

(Jones and Taylor, 2007) while loyalty is customers’ intentions for repeat purchase,
and actual purchase behaviour (Bove & Johnson, 2009).

Methodology

400 Questionnaires were distributed among young respondents (aged 16-25) who

had a recent experience with a service failure. Out of the 400 questionnaires

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