Abstract
This study examined the use of imagined interactions following the violation of consumers' expectations operationalized as organizational failures. Communication-based personality traits were also examined with respect to consumer complaining behavior and the use of imagined interactions. Participants were 235 people exposed to a hypothetical organizational failure involving violated expectations for a hotel reservation. The results indicate that people do use imagined interactions to help process organizational failures and that they are more likely to do so for rehearsal and self-awareness functions than for cathartic purposes. Moreover, several communication-based personality traits (e.g., argumentativeness, blirtatiousness, verbal aggressiveness, and communication apprehension) are significantly associated with imagined interactions and measures of complaining behavior.
Notes
Note. PRCA = Personal Report of Communication Apprehension.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p = .051 (one-tailed).
The manipulation involving the severity of the organizational failure was taken from Smith, Bolton, and Wagner (Citation1999). The manipulation regarding the likelihood of redress was created based on the definition provided by Singh (Citation1990).