We use complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to study the interplay between social norms and the effectiveness of consumer protection laws. We find that a higher level of trust in a given location is associated with a lower number of complaints filed against financial institutions in that location. Employing a difference-in-differences approach, we further find that, after the establishment of the CFPB, banks in low-trust areas reduce fees charged to consumers more compared to banks in high-trust areas. Our results suggest that the threat of consumer complaints to a government agency affects how banks treat their customers, and they shed light on the interaction between informal culture and formal institutions, as well as on stakeholders’ influence in corporate policies.

中文翻译：

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客户之声：本地信任文化和消费者对 CFPB 的投诉

我们使用向消费者金融保护局 (CFPB) 提交的投诉来研究社会规范与消费者保护法的有效性之间的相互作用。我们发现，对特定地点的信任度越高，对该地点金融机构的投诉数量就越少。采用差异中的差异方法，我们进一步发现，在CFPB成立后，与高信任地区的银行相比，低信任地区的银行向消费者收取的费用减少更多。我们的结果表明，消费者对政府机构的投诉威胁会影响银行对待客户的方式，它们揭示了非正式文化与正式机构之间的相互作用，以及利益相关者对公司政策的影响。