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.