An investigation into the complaint handling procedures of Scotrail using twitter as a means of communication

Abstract

The primary aim for this research is to investigate the complaint handling procedures of Scotrail through the use of twitter. This study will explore the reasoning behind why complainants turn to twitter as a means to communicate with the organisation about their negative experience. It will also look at the number of responses provided by Scotrail, and measure to what extent their approach to complaint management is keeping up with the changing trend in today’s society. Finally, it will make recommendations on how Scotrail can effectively use social media to gather feedback and manage these complaints. The research objectives were achieved by analysing the twitter feed of Scotrail over a fourteen-day period and measuring the responses provided by the organisation. For this research, a quantitative research method was chosen to allow the researcher the ability to gather a vast amount of data and generalise the findings. The researcher determined that the use of quantitative content analysis was the most appropriate choice due to the selection of the social media network and the number of tweets required. Scotrail was selected as a case study to allow the opportunity to reflect on the current practises of an organisation. 990 tweets were selected using probability sampling, which all mentioned or replied to Scotrail between 28/01/19 and 09/02/19. The main finding of the research was that Scotrail are struggling to keep up with social media complaint handling. With low response rates and a lack of acknowledgment within company guidelines of their prominence on twitter, the organisation have steps to take in order to utilise this space to the best they can. On the other hand the results of the study showed that when responding through Twitter, Scotrail try to remain personal, and are attempting to build positive relationships with complainants.