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Increasing the Organizational Influence of Corporate Consumer Affairs Departments
Author(s) -
FORNELL CLAES
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of consumer affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1745-6606
pISSN - 0022-0078
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6606.1981.tb00709.x
Subject(s) - complaint , business , marketing , veterans affairs , profit (economics) , empirical examination , consumer welfare , empirical research , welfare , economics , medicine , market economy , philosophy , actuarial science , epistemology , political science , law , microeconomics
Empirical research suggests that most corporate consumer affairs departments are not a part of the decision‐making structure of their respective firms. The typical consumer affairs department appears to have little influence in management decisions that affect consumer satisfaction and welfare. As a result, it is of limited value for the consumer. A reason for the isolation of consumer affairs from corporate decision making may be that the department's contribution to the firm's welfare is not well understood. By showing a significant contribution to company sales, the consumer affairs department would be in a position to gain influence in the profit‐seeking organization. The article identifies the relationship between sales and complaint management within a marketing framework and develops objectives for complaint management that maximize the consumer affairs department's contribution to sales thereby enhancing the power base of the department within the business organization.