Impact of consumer power on consumers' reactions to corporate transgression.

I-Ching Lee,Takaaki Hashimoto,Kaori Karasawa

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0196819

Abstract

We addressed how individuals’ power influences their judgments regarding corporate transgressions. Based on the Situated Focus Theory of Power, which theorizes that powerful people respond more in accordance to circumstantial factors, we tested the interaction of power and the type of corporate discourse offered by the accused company. Across two studies (overall N = 216), we experimentally primed power (Study 1) and manipulated participants’ sense of direct control over the company (Study 2). We consistently found an interaction effect of power and corporate discourse on people’s negative attitudes toward the company—particularly on the unwillingness to use the company’s products. Particularly, high-power individuals were prone to strongly vary their attitudes based on the mitigative/non-mitigative nature of the discourse, while those low in power were unsusceptible to the type of discourse. The results suggest how the potential rise of consumer power in society may critically influence the consumer-corporate relationships following corporate transgressions.

Highlights

Along with the society’s heightened emphasis on issues of corporate social responsibility, research has increasingly highlighted how consumers view and respond to corporate misconducts
Studies in the domain of consumer psychology have addressed the effects of power on people’s consumption tendencies, demonstrating how powerless people prefer status-related goods [8], whereas powerful people value the utility of the product [9]
The current study incorporates a different angle and considers how power shapes the relationship between a consumer and a company

Summary

Introduction

Along with the society’s heightened emphasis on issues of corporate social responsibility, research has increasingly highlighted how consumers view and respond to corporate misconducts. Consumers experience negative emotions [3, 4]; generate impressions on the overall unethicality of the company and its brand [5]; and potentially exhibit negative behavioral responses such as avoiding the company’s brand, spreading negative word of mouth, or protesting [4]. Our study adds to this line of research by considering the variable of power. Power is defined as a person’s capacity to modify others’ states and control situational outcomes [6, 7], such as by providing or withholding material or social resources or by administering sanctions. The current study incorporates a different angle and considers how power shapes the relationship between a consumer and a company

Objectives

Methods

Results