Consumers complain despite differences in education, age

Washington, Mar 9 : Have gone through the feeling of getting home and finding out that the shirt you bought was damaged, or worse yet, you had no warranty with which to dispute the damage? Well, a new research has found that in such a scenario, people would complain against the product, despite their level of education, age, and minority status.

Researchers studied how some consumers disadvantaged by income, race, education, or age and therefore less likely to return that product for a refund or an exchange.

Consumer satisfaction surveys and research historically labelled some groups -- poor, less educated, younger, minority consumers -- as "disadvantaged" in that they do not complain to a Better Business Bureau (125 offices nationwide) when they have a bad purchase experience.

Although even assessing these trends has been controversial, research from an disputes this old stereotype.

The survey analysed over 24,000 complaints filed within a thirteen year period and matched the complaints to U.S. Census Bureau data detailing characteristics such as income level, race, age, and education.

"We found that a consumer''s level of education, age, and minority status were not strongly linked to their complaining behaviour. However, consumers with lower incomes were less likely to complain as were consumers in rural areas," said researcher Dennis Garrett.

The authors emphasized that any consumer can be vulnerable in the marketplace and must be assertive in seeking remedies from companies, even if they feel disadvantaged by their lack of income.

They recommend that support for this consumer action be supported at the public policy level in order to encourage consumer empowerment.

The study has been published in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Affairs.