Online complainants' skepticism towards webcare promises: A cross-cultural study

While dissatisfied customers from around the globe increasingly turn to social media to voice public online complaints after service failures, documented research on cultural influences especially involving consumers from emerging markets remains scarce. This pioneering study shows that complainants’ recovery expectations and brand reactions are not only influenced by different types of prior webcare promises (accommodative vs. non-accommodative) but also by bystanders’ online comments (positive vs. negative interactive virtual presence; IVP). The results from a cross-cultural online experiment with participants from India and USA suggest that complainants align their reactions quite differently to IVP: Specifically, following a non-accommodative promise, individualists show more positive brand intentions after positive IVP than negative IVP. Interestingly, collectivistic complainants show the opposite reaction. IVP appears to have minor relevance following accommodative promises, which is consistent across both cultures. The findings are explained through a moderated mediation model. Thus, this research contributes to the nascent literature stream on the impact of bystanders in online complaining by investigating through the novel lens of culture by utilizing under-researched consumers.