Vendor Relationships As Predictors of Organizational Buyer ComplaintResponse Styles

Understanding how industrial buyers complain when dissatisfied with a supplier is an increasingly important topic. Complaints from buyers can be expressed in a variety of behaviors, such as contracting the vendor about the problem, switching suppliers, and warning other buyers about poor vendor performance. The development of appropriate policies and procedures is essential in reducing buyer complaints that damage the seller's reputation. This article develops a typology of organizational buyer complaint response styles and identifies a set of variables useful in predicting these styles. Managerial implications drawn from the empirical results can help marketers develop programs to promote more favorable forms of buyer complaint behavior.