2020 Customer Rage Study

The 2020 Customer Rage Study

An Independent Study of the State of Corporate Complaint Handling in America With a Focus on the Role of Social Media as a Complaint-Handling Channel

Customer Care Measurement & Consulting (CCMC) – in collaboration with the Center for Services Leadership at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and Kraft Heinz, brings you the release of key findings and implications from the 2020 National Customer Rage study. The independent 2020 National Customer Rage study, the ninth study wave since the original such study conducted for the White House in 1976, offers a clear comparison of customer satisfaction with corporate customer care efforts across decades, and it shows that corporate America is risking a striking $494 billion in revenue by doing things the wrong way when it comes to customer care. Read the recent article from the Wall Street Journal at this link.


Customer Rage, Explained

Where do companies go wrong dealing with customer dissatisfaction? A detailed report from the CCMC is available for download at the link below:

Take a Closer Look

Some background: In the 1970s, the first inception of the study found that dissatisfied complainants were more brand loyal than non-complainants and, as a result, American companies invested heavily in soliciting customer complaints. However, the 2020 Customer Rage study shows that today’s dissatisfied complainants are 22 percentage points less brand loyal than non-complainants. Brand loyalty increases only if complaints are satisfactorily resolved. Given that most complainants are less than satisfied, corporate America is engaging in customer care programs that might actually lose them customers.

Key Takeaways From the 2020 Study:

Social media has emerged as a lead actor in the customer experience drama. Here are some statistics: 55% - the percentage expecting a company response to a complaint posted on social media 49% - never get a response to their social media complaint 14% - post their complaint at least once on social media 16X - the average number of times a social media user posts a product/service experience on social media annually 48% - use social media as a source of information during a year before buying products or services 865 - the average number of friends, followers and contacts across social media.

Video commentaries on the study are below:

Time Wasted Video Preview

Time Wasted

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The Worth of Complaining Video Preview

The Worth of Complaining

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Got Nothing for Complaining video preview image

Got Nothing for Complaining

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What do customers want video preview image

What do Customers Want"

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Primary Channel for Complaining video preview image

Primary Channel for Complaining

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Customer revenge video preview image

Customer Revenge

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