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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.
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Chapter 12
Consumer Misbehaviour
© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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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
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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
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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
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Underage drinking,
smoking and sex
related products and
services
Materials from Hoyer, Consumer Behaviour 2e, displayed with special
Drug
usereserved
and abuse
permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.
All rights
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Over-consumption
At the wrong time….
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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)
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Consumer Motivations for
Boycotts
• Perceived Egregiousness
• Make a difference
• Self-enhancement
• Counterarguments
• Constrained consumption
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2008 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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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.
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2008 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Consumer Misbehaviour
and Marketing Activities
Marketing Activity
Products and Services
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Consumer Misbehaviour
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
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Consumer Misbehaviour
and Marketing Activities
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
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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?
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Consumer Misbehaviour
and Marketing Activities
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;
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Consumer Misbehaviour
and Marketing Activities
Spoof Ads and Buy Nothing Campaign Posters by Adbusters.org
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Consumer Misbehaviour
and Marketing Activities
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.
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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.
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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
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• 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.
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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.
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