PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research
ISSN: 1983-9456 (Print)
ISSN: 2317-0123 (Online)
Editor: Fauze Najib Mattar
Valuation system: Triple Blind Review
Languages: Portuguese and English
Publication: ABEP – Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Pesquisa
Why and how Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of
Undergraduates’ Complaints
Por que e como os Alunos Reclamam: Um Estudo sobre as Intenções e Implicações das
Reclamações de Universitários
Submission: 12 jul. 2012 - Approval: 28 mar. 2013
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira
PhD in Marketing and Strategy, Cardiff University. She holds a Master and a Bachelor Degree in
Business Administration, FEA-USP. Lecturer in the Master and PhD Program in Business
Administration, EAESP-FGV.
E-mail: [email protected].
Address: FGV - Departamento de Marketing - Rua Itapeva, 474 - 9º andar - 01332-000 - São
Paulo/SP - Brasil.
Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr.
PhD candidate in Business Administration, FEI. Master in Business Administration, EBAPE-FGV.
He holds a MBA in Corporative Finance, IBMEC-RJ, and a post-degree specialization in Business
Management and Enterprises, Escola Politécnica da USP. Bachelor in Civil Engineering, Escola de
Engenharia de São Carlos, USP. Business consultant.
E-mail: [email protected].
Rogerio Scabim Morano
PhD candidate and Master in Business Administration, FEI. He holds a MBA in E-Management,
EPGE-FGV, and a Bachelor Degree in Production Engineering, Escola Politécnica da USP. Higher
Education lecturer and business consultant.
E-mail: [email protected].
Paulo Cesar Calábria
PhD candidate in Business Administration, FEI. Master in Electric Engineering, Escola Politécnica
da USP. He holds a post-degree specialization in Business Administration, EAESP-FGV. Senior
Program Manager at IBM Brazil.
E-mail: [email protected].
Omar Magalhães Dias
PhD candidate and Master in Business Administration, FEI. He holds a MBA in Business Logistics,
EBAPE-FGV, a post-degree specialization in International Commerce, Universidade Mackenzie,
and a post-degree specialization in Economic Engineering, UERJ. Bachelor in Business
Administration, UFF. Lecturer at UNIFIEO.
E-mail: [email protected].
Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
ABSTRACT
Students’ behaviour when they complain has received more attention in recent years. The number
of research projects dedicated to investigating the marketing practices of Higher Education
Institutions - HEI in their relationship with their public, including students, has been increasing.
This study sought to investigate students’ intentions to complain about HEI to friends and others,
whether in person or over the internet, the degree of student dissatisfaction and the response of HEI
to the complaints received. This quantitative research project collected data from 80 students
attending different HEI and analyzed them by factorial analysis and multiple linear regression, in
accordance with Lala and Priluck (2011). The results indicate that the HEI should adopt more
effective strategies in their management of students’ complaints to create a more fruitful studentHEI relationship.
KEYWORDS:
Complaint, students, higher education management, satisfaction, intention.
RESUMO
O tema que versa sobre o comportamento de reclamação de estudantes tem recebido mais atenção
nos últimos anos. É crescente o número de pesquisas que tem se dedicado a investigar a adoção de
práticas de marketing pelas Instituições de Ensino Superior - IES em seu relacionamento com seus
públicos, incluindo os alunos. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a intenção dos estudantes de
reclamarem à IES, aos amigos e outros, tanto pessoalmente quanto pela internet; o grau de
insatisfação dos alunos e a resposta da IES à reclamação. Para atingir esse objetivo, realizou-se uma
pesquisa quantitativa, por meio de coleta de dados com 80 estudantes de diferentes IES, que foram
analisados por meio de análise fatorial e regressão linear múltipla, tendo como base o trabalho de
Lala e Priluck (2011). Os resultados indicam que as IES devem adotar estratégias mais eficazes na
gestão da reclamação do aluno para desenvolver uma relação estudante-IES profícua.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE:
Reclamação, estudantes, gestão no ensino superior, satisfação, intenção.
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
13, pp. 1-14, October, 2013 – www.revistapmkt.com.br
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Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
1. INTRODUCTION
The enrolment and retention of students in Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) is an important
aspect of educational management (LALA; PRILUCK, 2011).
According to the Ministry of Education (MEC) (2012), the number of students enrolled in
graduation courses of Brazilian IHE grew by 112.6% in the period between 2001 and 2010
(inclusive). However, the relationship between enrolment and graduation was of only 22%, which is
certainly a worrying figure for both IHE managers and for society as a whole.
The IHE have sought to use marketing concepts and techniques to promote and improve their
services (SU; BAO, 2001). As a reflection, they seek to identify their students’ needs and satisfy
them (MUKHERJEE; PINTO; MALHOTRA, 2009), recognizing them as important stakeholders
(KATILIUTE, 2011; BOWDEN, 2011).
Marketing approaches, principally those which deal with defects and the recovery of services,
bearing the differences in mind, can serve as references for the educational universe (IYER;
MUNCY, 2008). If complaints are not adequately dealt with, a double failure can occur in the
service: first, in the way the complaint is dealt with, and secondly, in the way the problem is solved
to recover the balance in the relationship with the unsatisfied public (IYER; MUNCY, 2008).
If such experiences are managed correctly, there can be a reversion of the situation of dissatisfaction
to one of satisfaction. The same can be true for the IHE, even though the educational system may
have specific peculiarities which involve the long term and its relationship with the development of
society. Thus, the importance of monitoring and adjusting the relationship between the IHE and the
student needs to be emphasized (SCARPIN; SCHARF; FERNANDES, 2011).
Complaints can be transformed into negative comments spread either by word of mouth or by the
Web, damaging the marketing efforts made to influence the decisions of potential students to
matriculate in the school or neutralizing the efforts made to keep existing students (ANTONIELI,
2012; LALA; PRILUCK, 2011).
For the purpose of making an empirical contribution to the literature on the behaviour of students
when complaining, and the related practice of the management of the IHE, this article investigated
the intention of students to complain to the IHE, to their friends and others, whether in person or by
Internet; the degree of dissatisfaction of the students and the replies of the IHE to the complaints
received, taking as its basis the work of Lala & Priluck (2011).
2. THEORETICAL REVIEW
In the face of a competitive market, for the purpose of increasing the rate of matriculation of new
students, many IHE have created mechanisms which make access to the school easier, permitting an
increase in the number of students per lecture room (SCARPIN; SCHARF; FERNANDES, 2011).
Other IHE have invested in the retention of their existing students, permitting that they express
themselves in the solution of occasional dissatisfaction which might otherwise lead them to
abandon the institution (STALLIVIERI, 2006). Students of higher education attend their lectures
regularly and it is natural that, over the years, there should be an accumulation of occasions of
friction with the IHE.
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
13, pp. 1-14, October, 2013 – www.revistapmkt.com.br
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Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
The study of Bowden (2011) on the determining factors of loyalty and their influence on the
student-IHE relationship shows that the satisfaction and the affective commitment of the students
has a significant effect on their loyalty, suggesting that a relational marketing orientation might help
in the management of higher education.
In accordance with the emotional-cognitive therapy model, complaining behaviour is the result of a
cognitive assessment of any situation which makes demands which exceed the individual’s
psychological resources. This assessment depends on both personal characteristics and situational
factors, such as the perception of power (STEPHENS; GWINNER, 1998).
In the case of higher education, Mukherjee, Pinto & Malhotra (2009) show that the students possess
less power than their professors due, in part, to the academic freedom which the IHE normally
allow their lecturers.
Because they are a special kind of client, students are, not rarely, excluded from the decisionmaking process within the educational system (MUKHERJEE; PINTO; MALHOTRA, 2009).
The results of Enache’s (2011) study indicate that the most important aspects for the students’
satisfaction, in order of importance are: educational programme, ability of the professor, learning
conditions, fee and opportunities of leisure.
On the other hand, the article by Hart & Coates (2010) shows that students in eastern Asia are
hesitant about being classed as “clients” of the IHE and that their preferred form of complaining is
by e-mail in contrast to the traditional channels of complaint.
Research into complaining behaviour suggests that people do not exhibit a single specific form of
behaviour, such as either complaining or not complaining. Rather, unsatisfied people express their
complaints in different ways.
According to Mukherjee, Pinto & Malhotra (2009) there is a consensus in the marketing literature
as to the modes of complaining behaviour which are basically four:
1. Voice.
2. Negative mouth to mouth commentary.
3. Complaints to third parties.
4. Abandonment of the relationship.
The majority of clients use more than one of these types of behaviour when they experience a bad
situation. Empirical studies show that more than 50% of clients do not give vent to their
dissatisfaction. (MUKHERJEE; PINTO; MALHOTRA, 2009).
Generally speaking, people who complain differ from those who do not, not only in terms of
individual characteristics but also in the way they behave in different situations.
Those who complain tend to be more impulsive and less self-controlled and the tendency to
complain is greater in situations of great dissatisfaction. Individuals are more inclined to complain
when their level of involvement with the organization is high, even in situations of little
dissatisfaction, and to respond in different ways in situations of dissatisfaction involving different
sectors (SHARMA et al., 2010).
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
13, pp. 1-14, October, 2013 – www.revistapmkt.com.br
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Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
Burke (2004) suggests that the most conscious and confident students, with great desire to succeed,
are more inclined to complain regularly. The main complaints of students about, for example, what
most displeases them as regards the marks (grades) given them by their teachers relate to two main
points: a lack of fairness (a sense of injustice) and a lack of feedback. Therefore, the elaboration of
clear criteria whereby the students may know beforehand how they will be assessed and what the
positive and negative points calling for improvement are, are ways of dealing with students’
negative vision of the attribution of marks (grades) (HOLMES; SMITH, 2003).
From the point of view of the teacher, taking knowledge of an unsatisfactory experience of the
student is important for two reasons.
First, if he does not take knowledge of it, the teacher can be harmed by the negative mouth-tomouth comments which arise from his not having been able to solve the problem which caused the
dissatisfaction.
Secondly, if he does not take knowledge of it, the teacher will be depriving himself of important
knowledge about his own performance, impeding actions for improvement or the exercise of
verifying what is working or not in the lecture room. The feedback focusing on specific teaching
questions demonstrably results in improvements in the teaching-learning process (SWANSON,
2001).
The assessment of teachers’ performance is a difficult subjective process which leads to
questioning. Assessments of performance are necessary in all organizations, but perhaps it is in the
IHE that the consequences of these assessments have exponential effects. Satisfaction regarding the
course is a critical component of the improvement and success of learning both in the class-room
and in on-line teaching (MARCELI; FOGLIASSO; BAACK, 2011).
Katiliute (2011) recommends that IHE should undertake biannual assessments to ensure the
satisfaction of students and compare them over the years.
Timmerman’s (2008) research shows that the assessments made by means of the site
RateMyProfessor.com - RMP should not be ignored, but rather that the RMP should be considered
with care as it can provide the IHE, especially those which do not possess any official assessment of
their teaching staff, with some clues as to their teachers’ performance. Or, further, the RMP can
serve as a complementary assessment for those institutions which already possess their own
assessment tools.
Lala & Priluck’s (2011) study shows that the predictors of the intention to complain vary in
accordance with the channel of complaint (IES, friends or others) and the mode of the complaint
(personally or by the internet). Specifically, the greater the degree of the students’ dissatisfaction
the more they will complain to the IHE and to their friends, either personally or by the Web. The
students will complain directly to the IHE only if it calls for minimal effort and if they feel that the
institution will reply to their complaint. Students who have a propensity to complain transmit their
negative experience through the internet, whereas the mindful ones only tell their friends personally
and the frequent users of the social media inform their friends through the Web. The three most
common causes of dissatisfaction given by these authors are:
1. Management of the classes.
2. Inadequate instruction.
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
13, pp. 1-14, October, 2013 – www.revistapmkt.com.br
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Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
3. The teachers’ attitudes to their students.
Davis & Swanson’s (2001) study shows that, although professors are more effective in teaching
small classes, in which they can use different techniques that contribute to critical thinking and to
learning, satisfactory incidents are not related to small classes. The satisfaction of the student is
associated with his learning and vice-versa.
In the light of the above, this article seeks to reply to the following questions: after a bad experience
with a teacher, what is the students’ intention when they complain to the school, to their friends and
to others, whether in person or by internet? What is the degree of the students’ dissatisfaction in the
light of the cause of the complaint? What is the response of the IHE to the complaint?
3. METHODOLOGY
The collection of data was undertaken by means of electronic questionnaire filled out on the Web,
using the Google docs® tools. This address on the Web was distributed to the students by e-mail,
together with the coordinates, lecture rooms, and by Facebook®.
The questionnaire was elaborated on the basis of Lala & Priluck’s research (2011), using the same
scales proposed by those authors, and consisted of closed questions as to the intention and kind of
complaint used by the HEI students.
The dimensions were measured by means of the Likert scale, varying from 1 to 5, on which the
respondent indicated his degree of agreement or disagreement with the question (ranging from “I
totally disagree” to “I agree totally”).
In some cases the respondent indicated the probability that the affirmation proposed would have to
occur, also on a scale ranging from 1 to 5 (from “highly improbable” to “highly probable”). One
used the critical incident, in which the students were asked to describe a bad, unforgettable
experience with a teacher during their academic life in the college, and all the closed questions that
were put related to this episode. Further, two open questions were added to the end of the
questionnaire: one on the actions that were taken to solve the student’s problem and the other on
how they felt about what had been done in response. A summary of the critical incidents and of the
actions taken by the IHE is given in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Critical incidents and actions taken by the IHE.
MAIN CRITICAL INCIDENTS WITH TEACHERS
Discourtesy of teacher and humiliation of students
Weak lessons and poor preparation on the part of the teachers
Dissatisfaction with grade given
Others
ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE IHE
None
Solved
Underway
Others
FREQUENCY
32
17
9
PERCENTAGE
40.0
21.3
11.3
22
27.5
FREQUENCY
33
PERCENTAGE
41.3
9
2
36
11.3
2.5
45.0
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
13, pp. 1-14, October, 2013 – www.revistapmkt.com.br
6
Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
A total of 80 graduation students of four private colleges of administration, marketing and
technology in São Paulo (SP) and two public universities in São Luís (MA), replied to the research
during the period April and May 2012.
Four other schools were approached but did not authorize their students’ participation in the project
precisely because the theme – students’ complaints – is an embarrassing one for the IHE.
The sample size was shown to be sufficient for the undertaking of the analyses proposed (see item 4
– Analysis of Results). The profile of the students is presented in Table 2.
TABLE 2
Profile of the students who participated in the research.
TYPE OF UNIVERSITY
Private
Public
FREQUENCY
73
7
PERCENTAGE
91.3
8.7
GENDER OF STUDENT
Feminine
Masculine
FREQUENCY
45
35
PERCENTAGE
56.3
43.8
AGE GROUP (years)
FREQUENCY
5
11
16
22
26
PERCENTAGE
6.3
13.8
20.0
27.5
32.5
FREQUENCY
PERCENTAGE
None
1-5
11
2
13.8
2.5
6 - 10
11 - 20
More than 20
LENGTH OF COURSE (years)
18
2
47
22.5
2.5
58.8
FREQUENCY
23
56
1
PERCENTAGE
28.8
70.0
1.3
1 year
FREQUENCY
33
PERCENTAGE
41.3
2nd year
20
25.0
3rd year
4
5.0
4th year
Course concluded
TIME SPENT ON VOLUNTARY SERVICE (PER WEEK)
20
25.0
3
3.8
FREQUENCY
56
22
PERCENTAGE
70.0
27.5
2
2.5
Less than 19
19 and 20
21 and 22
23 to 25
Above 25
TIME SPENT WORKING (hours per week)
2
4
More than 4
YEAR IN WHICH STUDYING
st
None
1 - 5 hours
6 - 10 hours
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
13, pp. 1-14, October, 2013 – www.revistapmkt.com.br
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Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
4. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
The factorial weight of each of the affirmations proposed was analyzed for the verification of their
significances and of the representativeness of the sample used.
According to Hair et al. (1998), factorial weights above 0.65 guarantee the significance of samples
greater than 75 registers.
As Table 3 shows, all the weights found for the replies are greater than that minimum value, which
validates the sample size of 80 students.
As for the measurements of the adequacy of the factorial analysis, the KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin)
test gave a value of 0.70, considered acceptable.
Barlett’s sphericity test showed significance (p < 0.001), indicating that the factorial analysis is
adequate (HAIR et al., 1998).
Table 3 showed, further, that the variables resulting from the factorial analysis present adequate
levels of reliability, giving Cronbach alphas of approximately or superior to 0.70 (HAIR et al.,
1998).
The names attributed to the factors resulting from the factorial analysis of this research differed
from those of Lala & Priluck’s research (2011), because as the items grouped themselves in slightly
different variables, it was necessary to label them differently, consistently with the new results.
When the results of the factorial analysis of this research project are compared with the variables
originally proposed by Lala & Priluck (2011) it may be seen that, after the calculation of the
factorial weights, the statement “it was a terrible experience” came to belong to the variable
“degree of student dissatisfaction” (DSD).
Apart from that, a new variable was created: “intention to complain directly to the teacher” (I2).
The variable “competence in the use of the Web” was withdrawn from the analysis as it was found
that there was no correspondence at all between it and the other variables studied.
As may be observed from Table 4, more than 80% of the students access social networks through
the Web daily, and that 40% of them spend more than an hour per day surfing on the net.
Table 3 shows all the independent and dependent variables of this study.
Statistically significant correlations were found between the independent variables DSD and SRDC,
as also between SRVC and SRDC (Table 5).
Such correlations reveal that the inadequate ability of the HEI to respond after a direct complaint
from students is related to the students’ dissatisfaction regarding the HEI (negative correlation).
Further, there is a positive correlation between the response of the school after the direct complaint
from the student and the response after the negative repercussion of a personal argument.
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
13, pp. 1-14, October, 2013 – www.revistapmkt.com.br
8
Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
TABLE 3
Values of the factorial weights, Cronbach’s alpha, KMO and Barlett’s tests.
TYPE OF
VARIABLE
ABBREV. VARIABLE
IV*
DSD
DV*
STATEMENT
FACTORIAL
WEIGHT
ALPHA
1. I felt I’d been treated unfairly
0.888
0.93
2. I was unhappy about the experience
0.890
3. The experience was frustrating
0.902
4. It was a terrible experience
0.871
SRDC
School’s reply If you had complained to the course
to it after a
coordinator or the director, what probability is
direct
there that the school would have:
complaint
1. Done something to deal with your problem
0.833
0.90
from the
(1)
student
2. Solved your problem (1)
0.861
3. Looked into the question (1)
0.908
SRVC
School’s reply Presume you commented on your experience to
to complaint
your family and friends. Presume further that
after
you posted your experience on the Web, at sites
repercussion
like Blogs, Facebook etc., what probability is
of a verbal
there that the school would:
complaint
1. Do something to deal with your problem (2)
0.907
0.93
2. Solve your problem (2)
0.943
3. Look into the question (2)
0.872
ECW
Effort to
1. Sending an e-mail to the teacher takes too
0.786
0.74
complain via
much time
Web
2. Sending an e-mail to the director demands a
0.797
great effort
3. Sending an e-mail to the coordinator takes a
0.843
long time
Now imagine that the episode that you described at the beginning has happened again. In this situation, you:
I1
Intention to
1. Will speak personally with the coordinator
0.879
0.79
complain to
2. Will speak personally with the director
0.801
the school
personally
Intention to
1. Will complain personally to the teacher
0.784
0.71
I2
complain
2. Will send an e-mail to the teacher on the
0.844
directly to the question
teacher
Intention to
1. Will talk to friends on the phone about the
0.867
0.73
I3
complain to
experience
friends
2. Will look friends out especially to tell them
0.790
personally
of your experience
Intention to
1. Will post a message on Facebook (or other
0.912
0.91
I4
complain to
social network) about what happened
friends on the 2. Will leave a message about what happened
0.910
Web
in the status of your Facebook, MSN etc.
3. Will post comments in Facebook (or other
0.913
social network) about what happened
4. Will give a mark to your teacher at a
0.650
specialized site, like ratemyprofessors.com
Intention to
1. Will write to your school paper about what
0.713
0.69
I5
complain to
happened
others
2. Will put posters on the school’s bulletin
0.786
personally
boards about what happened
Degree of
student
dissatisfaction
KMO: 0.70
BARLETT’S TEST
Chi-squared: 752,190
df: 120
p: 0.000
Obs.: IV* - Independent Variables; DV* - Dependent Variables.
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
13, pp. 1-14, October, 2013 – www.revistapmkt.com.br
9
Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
TABLE 4
Time spent daily on social networks.
None
Less than 1 hour
Between 1 and 3 hours
Between 3 and 5 hours
More than 5 hours
FREQUENCY
14
32
23
7
4
PERCENTAGE
17.5
40.0
28.8
8.8
5.0
TABLE 5
Pearson’s correlation between the variables studied.
DSD
DSD
SRDC
SRVC
ECW
I1
I2
I3
I4
ı
-0.362**
-0.062
0.107
0.176
0.049
0.252*
0.116
SRDC
ı
0.423**
-0.031
-0.198
0.003
-0.117
-0.152
I5
0.077
-0.066
Obs.: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01
SRVC
ECW
ı
0.129
0.006
0.247*
0.087
0.122
ı
0.081
ı
0.224* 0.313**
0.048
0.179
0.106
0.184
-0.037
0.139
I1
0.255*
I2
I3
ı
0.038
ı
-0.006 0.410**
0.190
I4
I5
ı
0.179 0.448**
ı
The dependent variable I1 did not present any correlation with the independent variables (DSD,
SRDC, SRVC and ECW), however, correlations were discovered between that variable and
dependent variables I2 and I5. These correlations indicate that the intention to complain personally
to the IHE is related to that to complain directly to the teacher and to other people.
Further, variable I4 presents correlations with variables I3 and I5, which indicates that the intention
to complain to friends on the internet is related to the intention to complain to friends personally
and to other people.
Variable I3 correlates with independent variable GIA, indicating that the intention to complain
personally to the IHE is related to dissatisfaction of the student (positive correlation).
Variable I2 correlates with independent variables ECW and SRVC, indicating that the intention to
complain directly to the teacher is related to the effort needed to complain via Web (positive
correlation) and to the reply of the school due to the negative repercussion of the verbal complaint
(positive correlation).
The independent variables DSD, SRDC, SRVC and ECW, were related to the variables I1, I2, I3, I4
and I5, dependent variables, by means of the execution of multiple linear regressions using the
statistical software SPSS®, version 17.0.
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
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Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
The sample of 80 registers used proved sufficient for the use of the regression model. Hair et al.
(1998) suggest that the level necessary is of between 15 and 20 observations for each independent
variable. Taking 80 questionnaires and four independent variables, one gets the proportion of 20,
sufficient for the undertaking of multiple linear regression.
Table 6 presents the coefficients “Beta”, “F” (ANOVA) and “R2 adjusted” and their respective
coefficients of significance of multiple linear regressions for the five variables of intention of
complaint on the part of the students.
The kind of execution used was stepwise and, only in the case in which all the independent
variables presented as possessing no significance, was the execution altered to the type enter.
TABLE 6
Result of the multiple linear regression of each dependent variable.
I1
I2
I3
I4
I5
BETA
SIG.
BETA
SIG.
BETA
SIG.
BETA
SIG.
BETA
SIG.
DSD
0.105
0.388
0.064
0.563
0.252*
0.024
0.04
0.738
0.051
0.683
SRDC
-0.196
0.144
-0.123
0.314
-0.029
0.806
-0.224
0.095
-0.027
0.845
SRVC
0.089
0.479
0.247*
0.027
0.103
0.349
0.21
0.097
-0.04
0.754
ECW
0.052
0.649
0.196
0.077
0.022
0.847
0.068
0.549
0.138
0.239
F(4;75)=1.246
0.299
F(1;78)=5.057
0.027
F(1;78)=5.293
0.024
F(4.75)=1.443
0.228
F(4.75)=0.505
0.732
Coef. ANOVA
2
R Adjusted
* p < 0.05
0.012
0.049
0.052
0.022
0.026
Only the variables I2 and I3 presented statistical significance, the first presenting a positive
relationship with the variable SRVC and the second with the variable DSD. These two significant
relationships corroborate the analyses of correlation already presented. Thus, it may be reaffirmed
that the intention to complain directly to the teacher, in a situation similar to that which has already
occurred, increases proportionately with the greater ability of the institution to reply, after the
repercussion of the presentation of the verbal complaint. Beyond that, the intention to complain
personally to friends increases in accordance with the degree of dissatisfaction of the student.
As has been ascertained by Mukherjee, Pinto & Malhotra’s research (2009), students complain to
third parties when they realize that this leads to a reply to their problem on the part of the school.
However, when they are aware of the power of the teacher, they tend to use their voice or negative
verbal commentary. The positive correlation found between variables I3 and DSD confirms, in a
way, what was reported by Sharma et al. (2010), that high levels of dissatisfaction, involvement and
impulsiveness tend to lead to the forms of behaviour typical of complaint.
5. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
This research project has confirmed some of the results of earlier research (LALA; PRILUCK,
2011; SHARMA et al., 2010; MUKHERJEE et al., 2009) that the degree of dissatisfaction acts as a
trigger for students’ intentions to complain to teachers and friends.
Consistent with the multidimensional vision of the behaviour of complaint (LALA; PRILUCK,
2011; MUKHERJEE; PINTO; MALHOTRA, 2009), this project has shown that the predictors of
the intention to complain vary both as to the channels of complaint examined (school, teacher,
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
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Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
friends or others) and the means used to complain (personally or via the Web). In accordance with
the results, the greater the degree of students’ dissatisfaction, the greater the probability that they
will complain to friends personally.
The results also show that students will complain directly to their teacher if they realize that
something will be done to investigate their problem or solve it.
In the light of the results of this research, it seems that students limit their complaints to those with
whom they have a closer relationship such as friends and acquaintances and even teachers, avoiding
making complaints to third parties.
Thus, as was commented on by Lala & Priluck (2011), this may happen because students prefer to
hide the reasons for their dissatisfaction from people they do not know in order to preserve the
reputation of the school.
As the students have an interest in maintaining the good public image of their school, the IHE has a
singular opportunity to manage the complaining behaviour of its students.
Generally speaking, the results of this study strengthen the need for more efficient strategies
regarding the management of student complaints, seeing that 41.3% of the students declare that no
action was taken on the part of the IHE, as against only 11.3% who considered their problem solved
(see Table 1).
The analysis of the critical incidents described by the participants of this research project revealed
that the main complaints of the students with regard to the unpleasant episodes which occurred in
their relation to a teacher arose because:
 Teaching practice in the lecture room (discourtesy on the part of the teacher and humiliation of
the students, with 32 mentions).
 Weak lectures and inadequate preparation on the part of the teachers (17 mentions).
 Dissatisfaction with grades (9 mentions).
In practical terms, supporting Bowden (2011), the adoption of a relationship marketing approach in
higher education is beneficial.
The adoption of efficacious channels of direct communication with the students via portals, special
e-mails, social networks, tutoring and less intimidating channels of complaint, could well bring
students into closer contact with their IHE. Further, it is essential that the channel of communication
between teacher and student should be of easy access so that the dialog between them may flow
easily in both directions.
If, on one hand, the IHE should provide its teachers with didactic training, it is, on the other,
necessary to manage students’ expectations as to what is considered pertinent in a complaint so as
to foment a respectful professional relationship between these two actors. Beyond that, it is
important that the IHE should perfect its assessment tools so that they may be permanently
monitored, which goes beyond the relationships established within the class room and involves
other actors, such as library staff, secretaries, the personnel of IT laboratories and others, who also
have their part in the academic environment.
PMKT – Brazilian Journal of Marketing, Opinion, and Media Research (ISSN 1983-9456 Print and ISSN 2317-0123 Online), São Paulo, Brasil, V.
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Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
Theoretical, practical and empirical evidence shows that a student’s complaint should be regarded
by the IHE as an opportunity to solve the problem concerned and take advantage of it.
The satisfaction of the student, beyond constituting a potential contribution in the sense of
increasing the levels of retention of the student population, can also contribute with positive
personal comment to students’ relationships with the IHE, transforming a negative into a positive
image. Thus a proactive management of the student-IHE relationship is essential, seeing that the
students can act both as detractors and advocates of the IHE. The analysis of the factors which
influence the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of students can provide important information as to
how they think and the areas which should be treated as priorities for the improvement of the IHE’s
role.
Some reservations as regards this study should be noted. First, some important antecedents of the
students’ behaviour regarding their intention to complain, such as the question of the social
influence of their peers, which can affect the posture of the student in making his complaints, were
not taken into consideration.
Secondly, it is possible that there exists some subjective bias in the students’ replies, due especially
to the social desirability which can have influenced them to give replies considered socially
acceptable.
And, finally, thirdly, the results and the analyses of the study are based on the replies of a sample of
first-degree students of some specific institutions, the majority of them private. There was only
minor participation of students of public schools.
It is suggested that future research should use better balanced sample populations, including
multiple segments of the various regions of Brazil, courses and educational levels.
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Why and How Students Complain: a Study of the Intentions and Implications of Undergraduates’ Complaints
Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira / Antonio Benedito de Oliveira Jr. / Rogerio Scabim Morano / Paulo Cesar Calábria / Omar Magalhães Dias
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