APPLYING JUSTICE THEORY TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF CONSUMER COMPLAINTS AND OPPORTUNISTIC INTENTION ON BRAND REPUTATION AND CONSUMER REPURCHASE BEHAVIOR

In today’s digital business world, service failures are inevitable. Customers who have experienced service failures react to recovery efforts, such as compensation, return policy leniency, or the accessibility of customer service representatives provided by the seller, by making judgments of the fairness of such efforts. Leaks in recovery efforts, on the other hand, may lead to unethical consumer conduct, such as opportunistic behavior or complaints. These nefarious intents may have an impact on brand reputation and consumer purchase behavior. We explore the impact of consumer perceptions of service recovery, as well as consumer complaints and opportunistic intentions toward a company by using a quasi-experimental approach. The results of the structural equation model test are particularly valuable to online sellers, as they show that all aspects of justice are major predictors of complaint and opportunistic intentions. A significant implication of our research is that the practical meaning of the notion of justice may affect consumers’ future repurchase behavior.