Customer Commitment - Essay Example

The Impact of Ethics and Commitment to Consumers By The Impact of Ethics and Commitment to Consumers The importance of ethics in doing business cannot be undermined, wherein sales can still plummet due to consumers’ perception of ethical breaches and dishonesty within companies despite strong commitment from some customers (Ingram, Skinner, & Taylor, 2005). In addition, because incidents concerning ethics within businesses can spread faster and wider than before, it is very important that large companies take into consideration actions which can affect consumer satisfaction, whether product or service-related.

Regarding the incident concerning Mr. Carroll’s guitar, on a scale of 1 to 10 the ethical breach would be 9 since it is clearly very unethical for a company to ignore repeated consumer complaints, especially when the services provided by United Airlines includes the comfort and satisfaction of their passengers. Since Mr. Carroll has already sent complaint letters multiple times, the best course of action to pacify him and come to agreement on how the complaints will be settled without the company having to admit total fault and giving his demands is by sending him an apologetic reply immediately and inviting him for a personal dialogue concerning his complaints and the possibility of settling the issue and gaining his trust back.

This step can be further guided by Maxham & Netemeyer’s ethics process model (2003) which is customer-centered by putting all customers in the shoes of their clients, so that they could empathize with them and provide appropriate responses. It is expected to provide favorable outcomes for both United Airlines and Mr. Carroll if executed properly. While this step may seem simple, it is a necessary action to prevent Mr. Carroll from feeling that his complaints have been completely ignored and making him feel that he is an unimportant customer, as well as to prevent him from taking actions that can affect United Airlines as a whole prematurely (such as posting songs or complaints through the internet).

In addition to the aforementioned mitigation steps for the issues with Mr. Carroll, as Regional Manager a meeting with other concerned divisions and supervisors must be called in to fully give the details that lead to the situation, to explain the repercussions that can happen and affect the impression and trust of important clients, stakeholders, and the public due to Mr. Carroll’s dissatisfaction and ignoring his complaints, and to create the terms of settlement that will be offered to Mr.

Carroll such as creating a list of possible settlements and allowing him to choose only one or allow him to choose only one among the three settlements that he seeks. These measures should be final should he agree to personally meet the managers, so as not to commit another possible ethical breach on the side of United Airlines (such as bribery). To prevent such incidents from happening again, there is a need to find out if the guidelines on customer service needs to be upgraded and to assess whether or not all employees are fully knowledgeable on this subject.

This is because of the fact that a consumer complaint was dismissed repeatedly was caused by isolation, implying that the company has increased its tolerance to complaints and continuously relies on the trust of other consumers despite some dissent. Ignoring clients like this will create a snowballing-effect which will only become noticeable once there has been considerable damage on brand image due to the large number of people that needed to be pacified and the amount of losses that can be incurred.

If such is the case, then recommendations on upgrading customer service guidelines as well as clarification or rewording of consumer terms and conditions will be necessary, as well as providing refresher courses for all United Airline employees, especially those interacting directly with the customers (either face to face or through communications such as email). Lastly, should supervisors or upper-level management still do not consider taking action regarding Mr. Carroll’s case, if an ethical committee or board exists this issue will be taken into writing and sent to them as appropriate, so that the appropriate measures can be done with the support of the committee or board, even if the supervisors are unwilling to address the issue themselves.

This is because as a consumer myself, I believe that having faith in companies mean that they are able to provide customer satisfaction to the best of their capabilities, and the last thing I want is to have my needs ignored by the brands I trust the most. ReferencesIngram, R., Skinner, S. J., & Taylor, V. A. (2005). Consumers Evaluation of Unethical Marketing Behaviors: The Role of Customer Commitment. Journal of Business Ethics 62 (3), 237-252.Maxham, J. G. III & Netemeyer, R. G. (2003). Firms Reap What They Sow: The Effects of Shared Values and Perceived Organizational Justice on Customers Evaluations of Complaint Handling.

Journal of Marketing67 (1). 46-62.