Businesses Beware: Consumer Immoral Retaliation in Response to Perceived Moral Violations by Companies

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