1. Chapter 12 Consumer Behaviour, Second Edition Martin Evans,
Ahmad Jamal
Gordon Foxall
Cardiff Business School
ISBN:
Chapter 12
© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

2. Consumer Misbehaviour
Chapter 12
Consumer Misbehaviour
© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Over-consumption At the wrong time….
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7. 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.

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

9. 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.
© 2008 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 9

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. Consumer Misbehaviour and Marketing Activities
Spoof Ads and Buy Nothing Campaign Posters by Adbusters.org 14
© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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:
© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

18. 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.

19. 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
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
Klein N (2001) No Logo, Flamingo, London.
O-Guinn T., & Faber R. (1989), Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenological Perspective, Journal of Consumer Research, September, pp
Rindfleisch, Aric, James E. Burroughs, and Frank Denton (1997), "Family Structure, Materialism, and Compulsive Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, 23 (March),
© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.