🎓 Take advantage of rude complaints

Many other people on social media observe how you respond to a rude complaint. Answer with humor and they will become more likely to buy from you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 November 29, 2022 | [Read Online]( 🎓 Take advantage of rude complaints Many other people on social media observe how you respond to a rude complaint. Answer with humor and they will become more likely to buy from you. [Thomas McKinlay]( [fb]( [tw]( [in]( [email](mailto:?subject=Post%20from%20Ariyh&body=%F0%9F%8E%93%20Take%20advantage%20of%20rude%20complaints%3A%20Many%20other%20people%20on%20social%20media%20observe%20how%20you%20respond%20to%20a%20rude%20complaint.%20Answer%20with%20humor%20and%20they%20will%20become%20more%20likely%20to%20buy%20from%20you.%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fariyh.beehiiv.com%2Fp%2Fanswer-rude-complaints) New to [Ariyh](? Join 15,031 evidence-based marketers for 3min practical insights 💡 from the latest scientific research 🎓 to get better marketing results 📈 [Subscribe here]( Today’s insight is brought to you by… [beCreatives]( [beCreative unlimited video editing]( Need to edit a lot of videos for yourself or your clients? Then you know how mind-boggling time consuming it is. That’s why beCreatives does it for you. [Unlimited video editing for a flat monthly rate](. Revisions and tight deadline turnarounds included. Sounds interesting? Hop on a free call to learn more about it. Hurry, if you join now you’ll get 2 months free with any yearly subscription! [Schedule a chat]( Want to sponsor Ariyh? [Here’s all you need to know](. 📝 Intro We’ve seen before [how you should respond to complaints on social media]( (i.e. try to take it to a private conversation as fast as possible). But how should you answer if the complaint is rude? (e.g. “F**k you and your s**t products”). Remember, these are public complaints (e.g. on your Facebook page). The answer is mostly for the benefit of others that will read it, not about the rude complainer (scr**w them, anyway). You might have hundreds, maybe thousands of silent observers that will see your response. How you respond influences how they perceive you. So should you still be nice and apologetic, or is it time to have some fun? Here’s what the science says. P.S.: And here’s another fun fact that many of you found interesting last week on LinkedIn: [you shouldn't call vegetarian food “vegetarian”]( (just say “Curry”, not “Vegetarian curry”). A new study found that meat-eaters will be 2.6 times more likely to choose it - making choices that are healthier for them and the planet. Previous insight: [Where you should display your price]( (150+ more insights [here]() Respond with humor to rude complaints on social media Channels: Complaint handling | Customer service | Social media For: Mostly B2C. Can be tested for B2B Research date: October 2022 📈 Recommendation When you get rude public complaints on social media (e.g. “How much f**king longer is my pizza going to be?”), respond to them with humor (e.g. “It might not be longer, but we’ll surely try to make it rounder”). Joke about the situation or complaint. Don’t direct your humor toward the person complaining (e.g. attacking them, directly making fun of them). Other people will see your response and become more likely to buy from you. They will also engage more with your answer (e.g. liking, retweeting), which will amplify the positive effect. 🎓 Findings - People that see a company reply to a rude complaint with humor are more likely to buy from the company, compared to when they see no response or a standard apology. - For example, as part of 3 different experiments, researchers found that: - When a complaint was civil, a polite apology increased the purchase intentions of other readers by 38% compared to no response or a funny response - When a complaint was rude, a funny response increased purchase intentions by 18.3% and an apology by 8.9%, compared to no response (see graph below) A funny reply to a rude complaint makes observers more likely to buy. [Graph showing that answering with a joke leads to a higher purchase intention] 🧠Why it works - Companies don’t usually reply to complaints with funny comments, so when they do it catches our attention. - When we consider the humor to be positive and not aggressive (e.g. attacking the complainer), we find it amusing. [Nobody likes rude complainers](, so we feel that they “got what they deserve”. - We then develop better feelings towards the company, and are more likely to engage and buy from it. 👨‍💻 The digital marketing newsletter that you can rely on every weekday [Stacked Marketer]( is the free curated newsletter that covers breaking news, useful tricks, and tips for all major digital marketing channels like Google, Facebook, TikTok and much more. Published every weekday and consumed in 7 minutes or less, you will find everything you need to stay up to date. Whether you are an experienced marketer or a college student, Stacked Marketer is for you. [Sign up here]( This announcement was sponsored. Want your brand here? [Click here](. ✋ Limitations - This effect only applies to public complaints that are read by others. Private complaints, even if rude, should probably be dealt with through apologies and explanations. - This study measured purchase intentions, not actual behavior (e.g. sales, real choices). Although the two are related, it’s [not an ideal measure](. - Researchers focused on the occasional use of humor. It’s unclear what happens when a company becomes known to use humor in its responses (e.g. Wendy’s). And what happens if everyone starts using funny responses? - It’s unclear what is best to include in a funny response. Should the company still mention that it’s trying to resolve the problem (e.g. “Jk, we ARE looking into it btw”) or that doesn’t matter? 🏢 Companies using this - Very few companies use this technique at the moment. - Virgin Trains did a mixed job: - It [successfully used it]( to address a problem that was not under its control (see example below) - It used it in a way that [spectacularly backfired]( (rightly so), by answering a legitimate civil complaint with a misogynist joke Virgin Trains did a good job at dealing with a rude complaint. It’s probably even better to not be as patronizing towards the customer and to keep the humor directed at the situation. [Virgin Trains answering a complaint with humor] ⚡ Steps to implement - When complaints are not rude, the safest response remains to [apologize, explain, and show empathy](. Remember to use [“I”, not “We”](, it helps to build empathy (e.g. “I’m sorry to hear this happened). You could still answer using humor - if appropriate - just [make sure you are poking fun at the situation, not the complainer](. - When complaints are rude, make sure that the humor you use to respond is actually funny, clever, and not offensive to the complainer. If in doubt, fall back to a classic apology. Don’t leave it unanswered. - And there are many more benefits to using clever humor on social media, beyond replying to complaints. For example, using it in your posts [makes your brand seem more competent and warm](. Just make sure it’s actually funny. 🔍 Study type Online experiments. 📖 Research [Let's Laugh About It! Using Humor to Address Complainers’ Online Incivility](. Journal of Interactive Marketing (October 2022). 🏫 Researchers - [Mathieu Béal](. Grenoble École de Management - [Yany Grégoire](. HEC Montréal - [François A. Carrillat](. HEC Montréal Remember: This is a new scientific discovery. In the future it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s [how science works](). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely. Rate today’s insight to help me make Ariyh's next insights 🎓 even more useful 📈 How was today’s insight? [Loved it]( | [Great]( | [Good]( | [Meh]( | [Bad]( - 📘 Want to optimize your pricing? Get [Ariyh’s Science-based Playbook of Pricing & Promotions]( - 📣 Want to advertise on Ariyh? [Here’s all you need to know]( - 🎓 New to Ariyh? -> Subscribe below or read 150+ other [3-min marketing insights]( [Subscribe here]( [tw]( [in]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here]( © Ariyh Plaça de la Universitat 6 Barcelona, Barcelona 08007, Spain [Publish on beehiiv](