Do the Crime, Always Do the Time? Insights into Consumer-to-Consumer Punishment Decisions

Posted: 23 Feb 2013

See all articles by Lily Lin

Lily Lin

Independent

Darren W. Dahl

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business

Jennifer Argo

University of Alberta - Department of Marketing, Business Economics & Law

Date Written: February 22, 2013

Abstract

Norm violations disrupt social order, and based on prior research, social order can be restored through the punishment of norm violators. Based on this conceptual framework, the current research examines a prevalent yet overlooked behaviour in the consumer literature by showing that consumers play an active role in making punishment decisions. Importantly, this paper highlights three factors that impact the balance in social order and thus are critical in consumer-to-consumer punishment decisions. First, when a third party in the consumption environment restores social order through punishment, consumers will refrain from punishing further (study 1). Second, punishment is mitigated when the norm violator faces an unjustified adversity as punishment would create a further imbalance in social order (studies 2a/b). Third, the level of punishment required to achieve social order is reduced for a higher status norm violator (study 3). Finally, this paper identifies multiple avenues for future research that build on the current work.

Keywords: norm violations, punishment, consumer behaviour

Suggested Citation

Lin, Lily and Dahl, Darren W. and Argo, Jennifer, Do the Crime, Always Do the Time? Insights into Consumer-to-Consumer Punishment Decisions (February 22, 2013). Journal of Consumer Research, Forthcoming, University of Alberta School of Business Research Paper No. 2013-14, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2222731

Lily Lin

Independent ( email )

Darren W. Dahl

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business ( email )

2053 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Canada
604-822-8346 (Phone)

Jennifer Argo (Contact Author)

University of Alberta - Department of Marketing, Business Economics & Law ( email )

Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R6
Canada

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