Service quality, homebuyers’ regret and dissatisfaction in China real estate market

Abstract

Surveys continuously revealed that many homebuyers suffer regret and dissatisfaction in China real estate market. Previous researches on residential satisfaction had focused on attributes of houses and individual characteristics, but the effects of service quality on post-purchase regret and satisfaction were largely ignored. This paper demonstrated that service quality significantly impacts residential purchasers' regret and dissatisfaction by three studies. Moreover, regretful or dissatisfied home-buyers were found to be likely to engage in word of mouth (WOM) in virtual communities instead of their social network. This article also indicated that the effects of regret on online WOM, voice complaint and complaint to a third party were mediated via dissatisfaction. Finally, implications for real estate service innovation and management practice and limitations of the study were discussed.