Complaining vs. Expressive Writing in Frustrating Product Experiences

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 to an higher product evaluation than complaint writing.