Consumer Complaints and Complaint Management in the Tourism Sector

Introduction - In today's intense competitive environment, businesses that want to have a sustainable competitive advantage must put the customer at the centre of all their activities and create customer loyalty by offering products and services that will provide customer satisfaction. One of the key elements of ensuring customer satisfaction is the effective handling of customer complaints, which is defined as the customers expressing their dissatisfaction with unmet expectations and unsatisfied needs verbally or in writing. The concept of a complaint as a response of customers' dissatisfaction with the products and services they experience is an invaluable feedback mechanism for businesses to resolve issues relating to their products and services. Aim - The aim of this chapter is to emphasise the importance of the concept of complaint as an important part of customer relations management and an effective marketing tool for the tourism sector. As a service sub-sector, the simultaneous production and consumption of services in the tourism sector ensures customer satisfaction more than concrete products, due to their inseparable nature. For this reason, handling, evaluating and finalising customer complaints has an important function and value in providing the necessary information for tourism enterprises to become aware of their deficiencies and mistakes. Complaint management has started to play an even more critical role for the tourism industry in preventing customer losses due to dissatisfaction, especially considering the shrinkage in demand in the sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Method - Firstly the concept of complaint and the importance of complaints for businesses were explained, customer complaint behaviour and the factors affecting this behaviour were examined in detail, the concept of online complaint was mentioned and the subject was evaluated in terms of tourism businesses. Results - While the effective management and resolution of complaints should be seen as a goal by every tourism business, it is vital that they understand customer complaint behaviours, the factors affecting this behaviour and how complaints should be managed in a way that will result in favour of the business. Conclusion - A complaint management process that enables customers to easily report their complaints to businesses and produces solutions as soon as possible will positively affect customer satisfaction. In this context, in order to reduce the negative effects on tourism enterprises, especially through the pandemic, business need to have clear and easy-to-access procedures, provide a quick response, show reliability and consistency in providing a solution, keeping the complainant informed of progress, have employees who can communicate with empathy and courtesy, have enough employees to deal with the situation, and adopt proactive approaches to prevent complaints rather than reducing the volume of complaints. Originality/Value - This research contributes to the literature in terms of complaining behaviour, examining the factors affecting this behaviour and emphasising the importance of the concept of complaints in the tourism sector. In addition, the research is important in terms of examining the contributions of an effective complaint management system in reducing the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector, which is one of the sectors mostly affected on a global scale.

Does combined usage of FFP2 and Surgical mask against SARS-CoV-2 affect SpO2 values and pulse rates of dental health-care workers?

Background and Aim: Combined use of surgical mask with filtering facepiece (FFP) 2 masks has been popular among the health-care workers. However, the effect of this preference on the vital values of individuals stays as a challenge among the professionals. The present study aimed to assess the effect of FFP2 mask versus combined use of it with surgical mask on the SpO2 values and pulse rates of individuals. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted on 20 health-care workers. The pulse rates and SpO2 values were evaluated by pulse oximeter placed in the index fingers of the participants. The participants were divided into two groups: those using the FFP2 mask and those using FFP2-surgical mask combination. Individuals wearing FFP2 mask were examined for a period of 60 min and the same examination was repeated for another period of 60 min in those using combination of FFP2 with surgical mask. The values were measured at the beginning and at 15, 30, 45, and 60 min intervals, respectively. The examinations were conducted in the rest position to obtain standardization. Results: The observed data showed no statistical difference at all periods in either SpO2 values or pulse rates between FFP2 and FFP2-surgical mask combined groups. The SpO2 values reduced from the initial time to 15 min in the FFP2-surgical mask group. Also, in the FFP2-SM group, statistically significant increase in values was observed between 15 and 45 min and 15 and 60 min. Another increase in SpO2 value was found in the observations made between made 30 and 45 min in the same group (P < 0.05). The pulse rates of the individuals showed no statistical difference in both the groups and at all experimental periods (P > 0.05). Conclusion: According to the present study, wearing only the FFP2 mask or FFP2-surgical mask combination seems not to cause any effect on the SpO2 values and pulse rates of the participants.

Investigation of the Perceived Stress Levels and Adherence to Treatment of Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: This research was conducted in a descriptive-relational type in order to examine the relationship between the investigation of the perceived stress levels and adherence to treatment of individuals with type 2 diabetes during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic. Materials and Methods: The population of the study consisted of adult individuals diagnosed with diabetes for at least 1 year, who were admitted to the Ínternal Medicine Clinic of a Training and Research Hospital located in the southeast of Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of 184 individuals with type 2 diabetes who accepted to participate in the study and met the research criteria. The data of the study were collected from the Patient Identification Form, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Patient Adherence to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Treatment Scale forms. Descriptive statistics, independent groups t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal–Wallis, Dunn–Bonferroni test, and Pearson correlation analysis were used to evaluate the data. Results: The mean total score of patient compliance in the treatment of perceived stress and type 2 diabetes was found to be 23.82 ± 8.34 and 99.69 ± 17.68, respectively. The difference between the overall total score averages of the patient adherence scale in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, according to the individual's state of having coronavirus disease 2019 and the disruption of controls during the pandemic process, and the total sub-dimension of perceived stress, and having coronavirus disease-2019 in the family was found to be statistically significant (P < .05). A weak negative correlation was found between perceived stress and mean scores of adherence to treatment (P < .05). Conclusion: In the study, it was determined that individuals with diabetes had moderate levels of perceived stress and adherence to treatment and that as perceived stress levels increased, their level of adherence to treatment decreased. © 2021 IDRiM Society.

Consumer complaints and complaint management in the tourism sector

Introduction – In today’s intense competitive environment, businesses that want to have a sustainable competitive advantage must put the customer at the centre of all their activities and create customer loyalty by offering products and services that will provide customer satisfaction. One of the key elements of ensuring customer satisfaction is the effective handling of customer complaints, which is defined as the customers expressing their dissatisfaction with unmet expectations and unsatisfied needs verbally or in writing. The concept of a complaint as a response of customers’ dissatisfaction with the products and services they experience is an invaluable feedback mechanism for businesses to resolve issues relating to their products and services. Aim – The aim of this chapter is to emphasise the importance of the concept of complaint as an important part of customer relations management and an effective marketing tool for the tourism sector. As a service sub-sector, the simultaneous production and consumption of services in the tourism sector ensures customer satisfaction more than concrete products, due to their inseparable nature. For this reason, handling, evaluating and finalising customer complaints has an important function and value in providing the necessary information for tourism enterprises to become aware of their deficiencies and mistakes. Complaint management has started to play an even more critical role for the tourism industry in preventing customer losses due to dissatisfaction, especially considering the shrinkage in demand in the sector due to the COVID19 pandemic. Method – Firstly the concept of complaint and the importance of complaints for businesses were explained, customer complaint behaviour and the factors affecting this behaviour were examined in detail, the concept of online complaint was mentioned and the subject was evaluated in terms of tourism businesses. Results – While the effective management and resolution of complaints should be seen as a goal by every tourism business, it is vital that they understand customer complaint behaviours, the factors affecting this behaviour and how complaints should be managed in a way that will result in favour of the business. Conclusion – A complaint management process that enables customers to easily report their complaints to businesses and produces solutions as soon as possible will positively affect customer satisfaction. In this context, in order to reduce the negative effects on tourism enterprises, especially through the pandemic, business need to have clear and easy-to-access procedures, provide a quick response, show reliability and consistency in providing a solution, keeping the complainant informed of progress, have employees who can communicate with empathy and courtesy, have enough employees to deal with the situation, and adopt proactive approaches to prevent complaints rather than reducing the volume of complaints. Originality/Value – This research contributes to the literature in terms of complaining behaviour, examining the factors affecting this behaviour and emphasising the importance of the concept of complaints in the tourism sector. In addition, the research is important in terms of examining the contributions of an effective complaint management system in reducing the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector, which is one of the sectors mostly affected on a global scale. © 2022 by Emerald Publishing Limited.

The association between coronaphobia and attitude towards COVID-19 Vaccine: A sample in the east of Turkey.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the association between coronaphobia and attitude towards COVID-19 vaccine in the society. METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with snowball sampling method between December 30, 2020 and January 10, 2021. The survey form was sent online to individuals who were 18 years of age and older. 1252 individuals who responded to the surveys were included in the study. The data were collected by using "Descriptive Information Form", "Attitudes towards the Covid-19 vaccine scale" and "Coronavirus 19 Phobia Scale (CP19-S)". Descriptive statistics and Pearson Correlation analysis were used in the evaluation of data. RESULTS: In the study, it was found that the participants had a mean ATV-COVID-19 scale positive attitude sub-dimension score of 2.81±1.04, while they had a mean negative attitude sub-dimension score of 2.95±0.78 and a mean total score of 2.89±0.78. It was found that the participants had a mean C19P-S psychological sub-dimension score of 21.03±5.36, a mean psychosomatic sub-dimension score of 10.30±4.11, a mean social sub-dimension score of 15.04±4.71, a mean economic sub-dimension score of 8.89±3.46 and a mean total scale score of 55.28±15.00. It was found in the study that there was a positive association between the participants' C19P-S and social sub-dimension and ATV-COVID-19 and positive attitude sub-dimension, while there was a negative association between ATV-COVID-19 and negative attitude sub-dimension (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It was found that the participants had a moderate level of coronavirus phobia and positive attitudes towards the vaccine. It was found that positive attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccine increased as the coronavirus phobia increased.