Chapter 12 Consumer Behaviour, Second Edition Martin Evans, Ahmad Jamal Gordon Foxall Cardiff Business School ISBN:978-0-470-99465-8 Chapter 12 © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Consumer Misbehaviour Chapter 12 Consumer Misbehaviour © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Chapter Objectives Explore a range of misbehaviours and their consequences for the company, the consumers and society Discuss consumer misbehaviour typologies including abnormal and illegal consumer behaviour Discuss consumers’ motivation for misbehaviour Discuss the impact of consumer misbehaviour on marketing mix activities such as product, price, promotion and distribution © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

What is Consumer Misbehaviour? “Behavioural acts by consumers which violate the generally accepted norms of conduct in consumption situations and thus disrupt the consumption order” (Fullerton and Punj, 2004) A jayconsumer is someone who (Lovelock, 1994): Does not pay for goods or does not pay the full price Breaks the rules of consumer-organisation interaction (e.g. queue-jumping) Vandalises company property or equipment Fails to pay for goods or services just due to lack of concern or interest © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Consumer Misbehaviour Typologies Based on Hoyer and MacInnes (2001) Misbehaviour in Acquiring Products Product Misuse Abnormal Consumer Behaviour Excessive Buying To compensate for psychological problems Sometimes over-stretching financial resources leading to bad debt or bankruptcy cases Addictive Buying drugs and alcohol Gambling Binge eating/drinking Smoking Illegal Consumer Behaviour Theft, shoplifting, black markets, bootlegging, counterfeiting brands Underage drinking, smoking and sex related products and services Drug use and abuse Materials from Hoyer, Consumer Behaviour 2e, displayed with special permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Materials from Hoyer, Consumer Behaviour 2e, displayed with special permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Over-consumption At the wrong time…. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Motivations for Misbehaviour Inability to fulfil consumption goals through legitimate means Misbehaving perceived as a thrilling experience An absence of moral constraint Misbehaviour perceived as a way of promoting a group’s identity Certain situational factors (e.g. crowding, unsettling amount of heat and noise) can contribute Some engage in rational weighing of the risks and rewards associated (Fullerton and Punj, 2004) Fullerton and Punj, 2004 © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Consumer Motivations for Boycotts Perceived Egregiousness Make a difference Self-enhancement Counterarguments Constrained consumption Fullerton and Punj, 2004 8 © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans © 2008 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans 8

Consumer Boycotts Better the devil you know Following a stream of public relations disasters over the past two decades, brand owners have taken to sitting round the table to engage with those who campaign against their activities Greenpeace jumped at the chance of influencing the environmental policies of companies such as McDonald’s and Shell and have worked closely with the organisations to achieve this. Other campaigners warn against getting too close to the targeted corporations, saying protests will be weakened by too much familiarity. Fullerton and Punj, 2004 9 © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans © 2008 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans 9

Consumer Misbehaviour and Marketing Activities Consumer Misbehaviour Marketing Activity Consumer Misbehaviour Products and Services Anti-social product use and misuse, Abuse of services, such as ‘bad behaviour’ when travelling on airplanes or when on holiday; use of environmentally damaging products such as cars, airline travel, fur garments, TV and sound systems with remote control; Disposal of products in an environmentally damaging manner; Knowingly investing in companies which exploit child labour and other socially undesirable practices; Purchase pornography products which exploit and damage women, in particular and sometimes children; Damaging brand reputation of companies perceived to be politically or socially irresponsible; Buying products to indulge in sports which damage the environment, such as non degradable fishing lines which can kill birds, guns to shoot wildlife; Consumption of foods we know will damage our health © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Consumer Misbehaviour and Marketing Activities Consumer Misbehaviour Marketing Activity Consumer Misbehaviour Price Avoidance of paying, not owning up to being undercharged or given too much change, or falsely claiming the reverse; knowingly taking advantage of loans and credit when financial position won’t sustain these; Credit card fraud Distribution Vandalism of shops and shopping mall; illegal or unethical distribution of counterfeit goods; Use of unauthorised distribution to sell bootleg products; Physically damaging in-store displays and carpets © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Consumer Misbehaviour and Marketing Activities Fullerton and Punj (2004): returning goods such as clothing or DIY tools after one use only in order to get a refund. Switching of price tags in an attempt to get an item for much less than should be paid for it. Daspin (2000): driving away from a petrol station without paying…. leaving a restaurant without paying. Failing to own up to a cashier’s error and leaving with more change than is due. Is there a continuum, for you, along which is a point where its so trivial its not misbehaviour? 12 © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Consumer Misbehaviour and Marketing Activities Consumer Misbehaviour Marketing Activity Consumer Misbehaviour Promotion Adding graffiti to posters; Distorting (via word of mouth or on-line communities) advertising messages to damage the reputation of a brand out of spite; Relationship Marketing; Deliberately distorting purchase details in loyalty and marketing database schemes by, for example, swapping loyalty cards; Identity theft, abuse of personal details of other consumers. Relationship , Marketing and Marketing Databases Misusing or stealing consumers’ personal information and credit card details from marketing databases for fraudulent use; © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Consumer Misbehaviour and Marketing Activities Spoof Ads and Buy Nothing Campaign Posters by Adbusters.org 14 © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Consumer Misbehaviour and Marketing Activities Consumer Misbehaviour Marketing Activity Consumer Misbehaviour Market Research Poll rigging, deliberately mis-responding Marketers’ Employees and Other Consumers Being abusive to front-line marketing staff such as call centre operatives, complaints departments, store till operators and service staff; Double standards adopted by the same individual in their capacity as a marketer and consumer. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Consumer Theft Shoplifting is worth $30 billion per annum in the USA; Insurance fraud - $10 billion; Phone service fraud - $ 1 billion; Hotel theft - $100 million Identity Theft - represents the fastest growing crime in the UK increasing at nearly 500% a year! This involves stealing other consumers’ personal information. This is often done by taking documents from their rubbish or by making contact with consumers and pretending to be from a legitimate organisation. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Who is Involved in Theft? Common perception - organized criminals are involved. However, Teenagers - shoplifting Credit card fraud – associated with better educated consumers However – consumers from all walks of life are involved. Roughly two thirds of all Americans admit to having shoplifted! Visit for more information: http://www.beyond-the-pale.co.uk/shoplifting.htm © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

In the UK, More than 3.5 million people have admitted shoplifting in the past five years - Each took an average of £105 of goods (BBC News, 28 No 2005) What do they take? Razor blades, air fresheners, batteries, CDs, DVDs, electronic gaming and music equipment and alcohol are cited by offenders as good items to sell on, according to this research. Also cheese, meat and other foodstuffs, all of which can be exchanged for cash very quickly. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

List of Readings Fullerton R A and Pung JG. (2002), Repercussions of Promotions and Ideology of Consumption: Consumer Misbehaviour, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 57, pp.1239-1249 Gabriel Y and Lang T (1995) The Unmanageable Consumer, Sage, London.   Hirschman, E. C. (1992), “The consciousness of addiction: toward a general theory of compulsive consumption,” Journal of Consumer Research. 19(2), pp.155-179. Klein N (2001) No Logo, Flamingo, London. O-Guinn T., & Faber R. (1989), Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenological Perspective, Journal of Consumer Research, September, pp. 147-157. Rindfleisch, Aric, James E. Burroughs, and Frank Denton (1997), "Family Structure, Materialism, and Compulsive Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, 23 (March), 312-325. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans