Take the case of a consumer that faces a problem with a cell phone service provider and wasere charged twice by the same service. In the process, the company denies to refund the consumer, arguing the billing was correct, even after the consumer presents the receipts. To what extent the damage created for this consumer reaches other third party consumers who learn about the event. Will those consumers react similar to the victimized customer?
We propose that tThird party consumers that are socially close to the victimized consumers interpret the event with greater similarity to the victim. AlthoughHowever, consumers that are socially distant to the victim do not interpret the event in same manner. The transgression probably is interpreted as not so harmful for that consumer. This similarity or difference is explained by the psychological distance theory, more …show more content…
transgressions). People experience social interactions in their daily lives which influence their opinions and behavior in terms of purchasing decision and consumption (Lazarus, 1991). The intensity of individuals’ emotional affiliation with other people can amplify the social influence (Dunn, 2004). Therefore, Linke (2012) proposes that the same transgression can be analyzed in two dimensions. The first dimension is the socio-moral judgment perception and the second is the transgression severity. If the company transgression is severe, social closeness will probably influence third part consumers, such that close-third consumers will have the same levels of anger and as a consequence, the same negative perception of the relationship with the service provider compared to the victim of the transgression. On the other hand, distant-third consumers will take the perspective of the transgression as an isolated circumstance, which leads to milder evaluation after a
We propose that tThird party consumers that are socially close to the victimized consumers interpret the event with greater similarity to the victim. AlthoughHowever, consumers that are socially distant to the victim do not interpret the event in same manner. The transgression probably is interpreted as not so harmful for that consumer. This similarity or difference is explained by the psychological distance theory, more …show more content…
transgressions). People experience social interactions in their daily lives which influence their opinions and behavior in terms of purchasing decision and consumption (Lazarus, 1991). The intensity of individuals’ emotional affiliation with other people can amplify the social influence (Dunn, 2004). Therefore, Linke (2012) proposes that the same transgression can be analyzed in two dimensions. The first dimension is the socio-moral judgment perception and the second is the transgression severity. If the company transgression is severe, social closeness will probably influence third part consumers, such that close-third consumers will have the same levels of anger and as a consequence, the same negative perception of the relationship with the service provider compared to the victim of the transgression. On the other hand, distant-third consumers will take the perspective of the transgression as an isolated circumstance, which leads to milder evaluation after a