Consumer Cheating on Service Guarantees: an Experimental Study

ABSTRACT - Using a true experimental design, this paper examines potential drivers of consumer cheating in the context of service guarantees. In particular, the impact on cheating of four situational factors (potential material gain, ease of invoking a guarantee, repeat purchase intent, and visibility of the victim) and two personality factors (self-monitoring, and Machiavellianism) were examined.

Citation:

Jochen Wirtz and Doreen Kum (2001) ,"Consumer Cheating on Service Guarantees: an Experimental Study", in AP - Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 4, eds. Paula M. Tidwell and Thomas E. Muller, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 362.

Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 4, 2001      Page 362

CONSUMER CHEATING ON SERVICE GUARANTEES: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Jochen Wirtz, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Doreen Kum, National University of Singapore, Singapore

[The authors thank Yong Siang Yeen for valuable research assistance throughout this project.]

ABSTRACT -

Using a true experimental design, this paper examines potential drivers of consumer cheating in the context of service guarantees. In particular, the impact on cheating of four situational factors (potential material gain, ease of invoking a guarantee, repeat purchase intent, and visibility of the victim) and two personality factors (self-monitoring, and Machiavellianism) were examined.

The findings suggest that repeat purchase intention, self-monitoring and Machiavellianism significantly affect cheating on service guarantees. Hypotheses for the other variables were not supported. Several interaction effects between situational factors, and between situational and personality factors were found.

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