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Customer dissatisfaction among older consumers: a mixed-methods approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2014

MICHAEL P. CAMERON ,
MARGARET RICHARDSON  and
SIALUPAPU SIAMEJA
MICHAEL P. CAMERON*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
MARGARET RICHARDSON
Affiliation:
Department of Management Communication, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
SIALUPAPU SIAMEJA
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
*
Address for correspondence: Michael P. Cameron, Department of Economics, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand E-mail: mcam@waikato.ac.nz
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Abstract

Worldwide, populations are ageing and consequently so are the consumer profiles for most organisations. Understanding how best to ensure satisfaction in interactions with older customers, patients, members of organisations, and so on is therefore increasingly important. This paper examines two research questions: (a) How satisfied or dissatisfied are older people with their customer service experience, and what are the factors associated with dissatisfaction? and (b) What prompts older people to want to change service providers? The research questions are addressed using a mixed-methods approach – quantitative analysis of observation logs, supported by illustrative quotes from focus groups. We find that on the whole older people are generally satisfied with their interactions with organisations, although a substantial minority of interactions lead to dissatisfaction or lower-than-expected satisfaction. Dissatisfaction with interactions is mostly associated with impersonal communications, including interactions that are not conducted face to face, and those that are one-off interactions rather than repeated interactions. Media and communications firms prompted the greatest levels of dissatisfaction among older consumers. Dissatisfied older consumers from our sample are more than 12 times more likely to report an intention to switch providers than satisfied consumers. This highlights the potential costs to organisations of poor customer interactions with older people.

Keywords

older peoplecustomer satisfactioncustomer dissatisfactionNew Zealand
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , February 2016 , pp. 420 - 441
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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