An Explanatory Study On Consumers’ E-Complaints About Discount Stores In Turkey

Abstract

This paper aims to identify consumers' complaints and future reactions about discount stores, which is one of the growing sectors of recent years in Turkey that has one of the fastest developing economies in the world. Data were collected from the most popular online complaint forum in Turkey. A total of 921 complaints about three discount stores were examined through manual content analysis. Findings of the study showed that consumers mostly complain about the products, personnel and price & payment of discount stores, respectively. Findings also indicated that almost one out of every 4 complaints were in foods of discount stores. Moreover, the study demonstrated that the most likely reaction of consumers as a result of their negative experiences with discount stores is boycotting. In addition, approximately one in six consumers used photographs to provide evidence of their complaints. The products of discount stores are the category of complaints that consumers use photographs most frequently.