Consumers like talking and writing about products, sharing experiences and thoughts, especially if these are negative or disappointing. Expressing their frustration help them digesting the unsatisfactory feeling. Companies, therefore, need to find ways to help consumers deal with their frustration but not impacting their overall attitude toward the product. The present study investigates the relative superiority of complaining vs. a new tool for airing frustrations with products, the expressive writing paradigm (Pennebacker 1997). Across two experimental between-subject studies, we find support that consumers who write their disappointment expressively have an higher product evaluation compared to customers that do not express their disappointment (Study 1). Moreover, as Study 2 shows, writing expressively brings consumers to have an higher product evaluation than complaint writing.

• Giulia Miniero(Università della Svizzera Italiana)
• Michael Gibbert(Università della Svizzera Italiana)