Consumers feeling wronged in the marketplace can respond in a variety of ways both morally appropriate and morally inappropriate. We focus on specific circumstances under which company wrongdoing increases the likelihood for consumers to respond with immoral retaliatory behavior. Importantly, we demonstrate that such immoral retaliation is not directed solely toward the guilty party but may also spill over to guiltless marketplace entities. This research highlights the underlying processes for immoral retaliation against a guilty versus a guiltless company, demonstrating the varying roles of anger and justification as well as assessing the overall effectiveness of such vengeance in offsetting further retaliation. Our findings inform important aspects of effective service recovery by shedding light on the destructive potential of consumer perceptions of immorality of any one company’s actions and by providing recommendations for managing the associated risk factors.
AhluwaliaRohiniGürhan-CanliZeynep (2000), “The Effects of Extensions on the Family Brand Name: An Accessibility-diagnosticity Perspective,” Journal of Consumer Research, 27 (December), 371–81.
3.
AquinoKarlTrippThomas M.BiesRobert J. (2006), “Getting Even or Moving On? Power, Procedural Justice, and Types of Offense as Predictors of Revenge, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Avoidance in Organizations,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 92 (1), 653–58.
4.
AquinoKarlAmericus ReedII (2002), “The Self-Importance of Moral Identity,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83 (6), 1423–40.
5.
AxelrodRobert (1984). The Evolution of Cooperation. New York: Basic Books.
6.
BanduraAlbert (1991), “Social Cognitive Theory of Self-Regulation,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50 (2), 248–87.
7.
BanduraAlbert (1986), Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
8.
BartelsDaniel M.BaumanChristopher W.CushmanFiery A.PizarroDavid A.Peter McGrawA. (2015), “Moral Judgment and Decision Making,” in The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Judgment and Decision Making, KerenG.WuG., eds. Chichester, UK: Wiley Blackwell, 478–551.
9.
BaumanC. W.SkitkaL. J. (2009), “In the Mind of the Perceiver: Psychological Implications of Moral Conviction,” in Moral Judgment and Decision Making: The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol. 50, BartelsD. M.BaumanC. W.SkitkaL. J.MedinD. L., eds. San Diego, CA: Elsevier, 339–362.
10.
BechwatiNada NasrMorrinMaureen (2003), “Outraged Consumers: Getting Even at the Expense of Getting a Good Deal,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13 (4), 440–53.
11.
BoshoffChristo (2012), “A Neurophysiological Assessment of Consumers’ Emotional Responses to Service Recovery Behaviors: The Impact of Ethnic Group and Gender Similarity,” Journal of Service Research, 15 (4), 401–413.
12.
BougieRogerPietersRikZeelenbergMarcel (2003), “Angry Customers Don’t Come Back, They Get Back: The Experience and Behavioral Implications of Anger and Dissatisfaction in Services,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 31 (4), 377–393.
DarkePeter R.AshworthLaurenceMainKelley J. (2010), “Great Expectations and Broken Promises: Misleading Advertising, Product Failure, Expectancy Disconfirmation and Consumer Suspicion,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38 (3), 347–362.
16.
DarkePeter R.RitchieRobin J. B. (2007), “The Defensive Consumer: Advertising Deception, Defensive Processing, and Distrust,” Journal of Marketing Research, 44 (February), 114–127.
17.
FehrErnstGächterSimon (2002), “Altruistic Punishment in Humans,” Nature, 415 (January), 137–140.
18.
FisherRobert J. (1993), “Social Desirability Bias and the Validity of Indirect Questioning,” Journal of Consumer Research, 20 (September), 303–315.
19.
FosterCraig A.RusbultCaryl E. (1999), “Injustice and Powerseeking,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25 (7), 834–849.
20.
FullertonRonald A.PunjGirish (1993), “Choosing to Misbehave: A Structural Model of Aberrant Consumer Behavior,” Advances in Consumer Research, 20 (1), 570–574.
21.
FunchesVenessa (2011), “The Consumer Anger Phenomena: Causes and Consequences,” Journal of Services Marketing, 25 (6), 420–428.
22.
FunchesVenessaMarkleyMelissaDavisLenita (2009), “Reprisal, Retribution and Requital: Investigating Customer Retaliation,” Journal of Business Research, 62 (2), 231–238.
23.
GelbrichKatjaGathkeJanaGregoireYany (2015), “How Much Compensation Should a Firm Offer for a Flawed Service? An Examination of the Nonlinear Effects of Compensation on Satisfaction,” Journal of Service Research, 18 (1), 107–123.
24.
GrahamJesseHaidtJonathanKolevaSenaMotylMattIyerRaviWojcikSean P.DittoPeter H. (2013), “Moral Foundations Theory: The Pragmatic Validity of Moral Pluralism,” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 47 (2013), 55–130.
25.
GrégoireYanyFisherRobert J. (2008), “Customer Betrayal and Retaliation: When Your Best Customers Become Your Worst Enemies,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36 (2), 247–261.
26.
GroveStephen J.FiskRaymond P.JobyJohn (2004), “Surviving in the Age of Rage,” Marketing Management, 13 (March/April), 41–46.
27.
HaidtJonathan (2007), “The New Synthesis in Moral Psychology,” Science, 316 (5827), 998–1002.
28.
HaidtJonathan (2001), “The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail: A Social Intuitionist Approach to Moral Judgment,” Psychological Review, 108 (4), 814–834.
29.
HarrisLloyd C.ReynoldsKate L. (2004), “Jaycustomer Behavior: An Exploration of Types and Motives in the Hospitality Industry,” Journal of Services Marketing, 18 (5), 339–357.
30.
HarrisLloyd C.ReynoldsKate L. (2003), “The Consequences of Dysfunctional Customer Behavior,” Journal of Service Research, 6 (2), 144–161.
HayesAndrew F. (2012), “PROCESS: A Versatile Computational Tool for Observed Variable Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Modeling,” White Paper. (accessed March 1, 2016) [available athttp://www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdf].
33.
JohnsonA.R.FolkesV.S. (2015) Does One Bad Apple Spoil the Whole Bunch? A Social Identity Explanation of Consumers’ Reactions to Employee Morality. In: SharmaD.BornaS. (eds) Proceedings of the 2007 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham
34.
JohnsonAllison R. (2005), “Immoral by Association: Customers’ Reactions to Information about an Employee’s Morality,” Doctoral Dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
35.
KarandeKiranMagniniVincentTamLeona (2007), “Recovery Voice and Satisfaction after Service Failure: An Experimental Investigation of Mediating and Moderating Factors,” Journal of Service Research, 10 (2), 187–203.
36.
Komarova LoureiroYuliyaBayukJuliaTignorStefanieNenkovGerganaBaskentliSaraWebbDavid (2016), “The Case for Moral Consumption: Examining and Expanding the Domain of Moral Behavior to Promote Individual and Collective Well-Being,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 35 (2), 305–322.
LazarusRichard S. (1991), Emotion and Adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.
39.
MazarNinaOnAmirArielyDan (2008), “The Dishonesty of Honest People: A Theory of Self-Concept Maintenance,” Journal of Marketing Research, 45 (December), 633–644.
40.
McColl-KennedyJanet R.PattersonPaul G.NguyenDoan T. (2011), “Customer’s Angry Voice: Targeting Employees or the Organization?,” Journal of Business Research, 64 (7), 707–713.
41.
McColl-KennedyJanet R.PattersonPaul G.SmithAmy K.BradyMichael K. (2009), “Customer Rage Episodes: Emotions, Expressions and Behaviors,” Journal of Retailing, 85 (2), 222–237.
42.
McGregorJena (2008), “Consumer Vigilantes. Memo to Corporate America: Hell Now Hath No Fury Like a Customer Scorned,” Bloomberg Businessweek, March 3 (4073), 38–42.
43.
PattersonPaul G.BradyMichael K.McColl-KennedyJanet R. (2016), “Geysers or Bubbling Hot Springs? A Cross-Cultural Examination of Customer Rage from Eastern and Western Perspectives,” Journal of Service Research, 19 (3), 243–259.
44.
RoehmMichelle L.TyboutAlice M. (2006), “When Will a Brand Scandal Spill Over, and How Should Competitors Respond?” Journal of Marketing Research, 3 (August), 366–373.
45.
SeidersKathleenBerryLeonard L. (1998), “Service Fairness: What It Is and Why It Matters,” The Academy of Management Executive, 12 (2), 8–20.
46.
SmithCraig A. (1991), “The Self, Appraisal, and Coping,” in Handbook of Social and Clinical Psychology: The Health Perspective, SnyderC. R.ForsythD. R., eds. New York: Pergamon, 116–137.
47.
StrizhakovaYuliyaTsarenkoYelenaRuthJulie A. (2012), “I’m Mad and I Can’t Get That Service Failure Off My Mind”: Coping and Rumination as Mediators of Anger Effects on Customer Intentions,” Journal of Service Research, 15 (4), 414.
48.
SurachartkumtonkunJirapornPattersonPaul G.McColl-KennedyJanet R. (2013), “Customer Rage Back-Story: Linking Needs-Based Cognitive Appraisal to Service Failure Type,” Journal of Retailing, 89 (1), 72–87.
49.
TangneyJune Price EdFischerKurt W. (1995), Self-Conscious Emotions: The Psychology of Shame, Guilt, Embarrassment, and Pride. New York: Guilford Press.
TianKellyKeepBill (2002), Customer Fraud and Business Responses: Let the Marketer Beware. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
52.
ZourrigHaithemChebatJean-CharlesToffoliRoy (2009), “Consumer Revenge Behavior: A Cross-Cultural Perspective,” Journal of Business Research, 62 (10), 995–1001.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
