Consumer Behaviour,

Second Edition
Martin Evans,
Ahmad Jamal
Gordon Foxall
Cardiff Business School
ISBN:978-0-470-994658

Chapter 12

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

www.wileyeurope.com/college/evans

Chapter 12
Consumer Misbehaviour

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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.

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
Abnormal
Consumer
Behaviour

Illegal
Consumer
Behaviour

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Misbehaviour in
Product Misuse
Hoyer Products
and MacInnes
Acquiring

(2001)
Excessive
Buying
To compensate for
psychological problems
Sometimes overstretching financial
resources leading to bad
debt or bankruptcy cases
Theft, shoplifting, black
markets, bootlegging,
counterfeiting brands

Addictive
Buying drugs and
alcohol
Gambling
Binge
eating/drinking
Smoking
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

Over-consumption

At the wrong time.

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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
groups 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)
2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Consumer
Motivations for
Boycotts

Perceived Egregiousness
Make a difference
Self-enhancement
Counterarguments

Constrained consumption
2009
2008 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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
McDonalds 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.
2009
2008 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Consumer
Misbehaviour and
Marketing Activity
Consumer Misbehaviour
Marketing Activities

Products and Services

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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

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Consumer
Misbehaviour and
Marketing
Activity
Consumer Misbehaviour
Marketing
Activities
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 wont
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.

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Consumer
Misbehaviour and
Fullerton
and Punj (2004): returning
goods such as clothing or
Marketing
Activities
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 cashiers 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?
2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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Consumer
Misbehaviour and
Marketing
Activity
Consumer Misbehaviour
Marketing
Activities
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
Spoof Ads and Buy Nothing Campaign Posters by
Marketing
Activities
Adbusters.org

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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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.

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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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.

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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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

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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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.

2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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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.
2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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