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ABSTRACT
Since studies in the field of complaint research primarily look at the group of complainers, little is known about the group of non-complainers. For this reason, in addition to the complainers, the non-complainers should also be considered in the present study in order to help close the existing research gap. The focus of this study is the segment of older people aged 60 and over, as this group of people has received little attention in research to date. Thus, this study contributes to the emerging research field of "Economics of Population Aging." The research question is: Why do men and women aged 60 and older (not) complain in dissatisfaction situations? Data collection for the study was conducted via a representative, ad hoc, online survey in January 2020just before COVID-19 restrictions were in place. In total, data were collected from 533 people, 229 of whom had had negative experiences when purchasing a product or service. This sample was then evaluated and analyzed. In particular, the phenomenon of "not complaining" was investigated in a data-based manner. Among other things, the study shows that certain characteristics can be attributed to senior non-complainers.
INTRODUCTION
First, the relevance of the topic is highlighted, and the scientific contribution of this study is presented. From this, the research question of this study is derived.
Relevance of the Topic and Scientific Contribution
Normally, complaints are made about products or services that do not function properly or have not been provided to the customer's satisfaction. However, little is known about whether and how older people in particular complain when they are not satisfied with a purchased product or service. Thus, the absence of complaints does not necessarily allow conclusions to be drawn about the satisfaction of older customers. Conversely, a frequent occurrence of complaints does not always indicate general dissatisfaction. For this reason, the present study aims to shed some light on this dark field and to learn more about the (non) complaint behavior of older consumers.
During the consumerism movement of the 1970s, representatives of marketing and satisfaction research began to address the complaint behavior of customers theoretically and empirically (Hirschman 1970; Day and Landon 1977; Fornell 1976; Bearden and Oliver 1985; Singh 1990a; Brock 2009). In terms of content, this...