According to new Wharton research, bad word-of-mouth communication should be a big cause of concern to retailers.
Results of The Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study 2006 -- conducted by The Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at Wharton and The Verde Group, a Toronto consulting firm, in the weeks before and after Christmas 2005 -- show that only 6% of shoppers who experienced a problem with a retailer contacted the company, but 31% went on to tell friends, family or colleagues what happened. Of those, 8% told one person, another 8% told two people, but 6% told six or more people. "Even though these shoppers don't share their pain with the store, they do share their pain with other people, apparently quite a few other people," says Hoch.
- Almost half those surveyed, 48%, reported they have avoided a store in the past because of someone else's negative experience.
Parking was a major source of aggravation for shoppers, according to the survey. It topped the list of problems, with 40% of those surveyed reporting dissatisfaction in the parking lot.