The consumer anger phenomena: causes and consequences

Venessa Funches
Department of Marketing, Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore consumer anger phenomena. Design/methodology/approach The research utilized the critical incident technique and three different samples to thoroughly explore the consumer anger phenomena. Findings The research identied three causes of consumer anger: broken promises, unfair treatment and expressed hostility, and detailed the effects of consumer anger beyond decisions to continue or terminate service provider relationships. Research limitations/implications Future research could examine the role switching barriers play in consumer anger episodes. Practical implications Angering consumers comes with an array of damaging consequences that extend beyond the decision to continue or terminate the service provider relationship. As a result, managers must realize that the absence of switching behavior does not necessarily constitute success. Originality/value This study extends previous research by using a grounded theory approach to uncover three broad causes of consumer anger. In addition, this study reveals consumer use of additional consequences (i.e. reducing patronage, changing locations, avoiding certain employees) in response to anger evoking encounters. Keywords Emotions, Service failures, Negative service encounters, Critical incident technique, Anger, Consumers, Emotional dissonance Paper type Research paper

An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.

Introduction
Much of marketing research is preoccupied with the creation and maintenance of consumer-to-rm relationships. However, less focus has been placed on the dissolution of those relationships and the damage caused by anger. The consumer experience of anger can result in behaviors that cost rms money and damage the consumer-to-rm relationship (Huefner and Hunt, 2000). Therefore, understanding this behavior is in the best interest of rms. This research attempts to ll the gap by exploring the consumer anger phenomena. This research utilized the critical incident technique to explore the causes and consequences of consumer anger resulting from perceived negative personal service interactions. Using Lazaruss (1991) cognitive appraisal theory as the organizing framework, this research focuses on evaluations of anger-evoking incidents relevant to ones well being. The initial evaluation is key because it determines the emotions consumers will experience. Each emotion is characterized by specic evaluations of situations. These emotions then inuence how consumers will respond to the situation.
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This research builds on existing literature in three ways. First, this research explores the role of a specic emotion consumer anger, in service failure as well as its impact usually neglected in the literature. Researchers typically use either the valenced or the emotion specicity approach when examining the role of emotions. The valenced approach focuses on whether an emotion is positive or negative and the emotion specicity approach focuses on the specic nature of emotions of equivalent valence (Rucker and Petty, 2004). Traditional research has focused a great deal of attention on the valenced approach (Schoefer and Ennew, 2005; Mattila and Enz, 2002; Liljander and Strandvik, 1997) working under the assumption that the impact of the valence of affective states on cognition and behavior were important and research concerning specic emotions would provide little additional information. However, researchers have shown specic negative emotions can lead to different behaviors (Raghunathan and Pham, 1999). This research takes an emotion specicity approach by examining the role of one negative emotion anger and its impact on consumer decisions to continue or terminate their service provider relationships. Given that anger is a frequently experienced emotion (Averill, 1982; Robbins, 2000) and a strong driver of behavior (Frijda, 1986) it leads to the rst research question: What are the causes of consumer anger? Second, this research explores multiple causes of consumer anger. Some researchers have suggested one broad cause of anger. For example, research conducted by Diaz et al. (2002) suggest anger is caused by violations of the moral code of conduct. Similarly, Weiner (2000) suggests anger is a result of social transgressions. Anger is also thought to be caused by an
Received: March 2009 Revised: December 2009 Accepted: February 2010

Journal of Services Marketing 25/6 (2011) 420 428 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0887-6045] [DOI 10.1108/08876041111161014]

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inability to attain desired goals (Nyer, 1997). While generally accepted, these assertions offer little insight into how anger evoking incidences can be controlled or prevented. As a result, this research seeks to develop a broadly applicable listing of specic situational causes of consumer anger. Thus, the second research question focuses on what specic situational elements are prevalent in consumer anger episodes. Understanding the causes of consumer anger would allow rms to control or limit consumer anger as well as better manage the recovery process. Third, this research explores the behavioral consequences of consumer anger. Much research has been conducted on consumer responses to negative service encounters like negative word-of-mouth, complaint behavior, and switching behavior. However, these behaviors do not represent the total range of options available to angry consumers. In fact, a study conducted by Kalamas et al. (2008) found as anger increased consumers were more likely to purposefully levy consequences. One of the purposes of this study was to explore a wider range of consumer responses to service failures including not only traditional behaviors but also reduced patronage levels and other behavioral changes. Therefore, the third research question concerns how consumer anger affects future rm usage. The paper begins with an overview of the relevant literatures that underlie the study. A description of the methodology is presented and followed by a discussion of the results. Finally, the paper concludes with managerial implications and contributions and future research suggestions.

Literature review
Research conrms establishing relationships is benecial for rms (Gwinner et al., 1998; Gronroos, 1990; Berry, 1983) and consumers (Gwinner et al., 1998; Bendapudi and Berry, 1997). For instance, positive relationships have the power to make up for lapses in rm performance (Hess et al., 2003; Priluck, 2003; Berry, 1995). Firms build up loyalty and goodwill with consumers through long-term relationships and as a result one instance of poor rm performance will not erase all the goodwill consumers possess (Tax et al., 1998). However, negative experiences are not totally overridden by prior positive experiences and these negative experiences can have a strong effect on future patronage decisions (Tax et al., 1998). Research conducted by Crosby and Stephens (1987) asserts that while consumers do value their rm relationships, they do not act naively in evaluating services based solely on relationships and therefore these prior experiences only have a limited ability to mitigate the negative effects of service failure and the resulting dissatisfaction. Seminal research conducted by Hirschman (1970) concluded that consumers use specic behaviors like voice or exit to improve dissatisfactory rm performance. Consumer responses to dissatisfaction involve both cognitive and affective components (Westbrook, 1987; Westbrook and Oliver, 1991). Cognitive models are limited in their ability to account for satisfaction evaluations and subsequent behaviors (Bagozzi, 1999; Smith and Bolton, 2002). Therefore, emotions become important drivers of these behaviors (Bigne et al., 2008; Liljander and Strandvik, 1997; Wirtz and Bateson, 1999). 421

A study conducted by Smith and Bolton (2002), explored the effects of emotions on consumer evaluations of service recovery. Using a scenario-based approach the authors determined that more dissatised consumers tended to respond with stronger and more negative emotions. These emotions can have a signicant impact on consumer evaluations (Mattila and Wirtz, 2000; Westbrook, 1987; Westbrook and Oliver, 1991). Bougie et al. (2003) explored angers role in inuencing consumer behavioral responses to dissatisfaction. The authors investigated the direct effects of service encounter dissatisfaction (valence) and anger (emotion-specic) on consumers behavioral responses to service failure in a eld setting. The results of Bougie et al.s (2003) rst study supported the contention that the experience of dissatisfaction is insufcient to motivate consumers to engage in complaint behavior, negative word of mouth, switching, or third party complaining. However, the ndings suggest anger was a powerful predictor of consumers behavioral responses to failed service encounters over and above the effect of dissatisfaction. Moreover, the authors found the inclusion of anger in the model provided increased explanatory power beyond the dissatisfaction model. Consumer anger for the purposes of this research is dened as an emotional state which stems from a consumers perceived loss of entitlement due to an unfair, threatening or harmful consumption experience. These consumption experiences involve interactions with the rm, its products or services, and or its employees. Anger has two characteristics that distinguish it from other emotions. The rst is the belief we have been wronged unjustiably (Averill, 1982; Lazarus, 1991). The extent to which the consumer believes the encounter to be inequitable determines the type of negative affect experienced (Oliver and Swan, 1989, p. 373). Then, consumers perception of the fairness of the situation becomes a key component in their post-purchase response and in how or if the relationship is maintained (Blodgett and Anderson, 2000; Maxham III, 2001; Oliver and Swan, 1989; Swan et al., 1985). The second characteristic of anger is the element of blame. Attribution theory focuses upon the universal concern with explanation (Weiner, 2000, p. 382). In the context of service failure, consumers ask why an event was dissatisfactory, whether it will occur again, and who or what is to be blamed. Attribution theory provides important insight into the antecedents and consequences of consumer anger. Research suggests emotional responses vary depending on how consumers attribute blame (Machleit and Mantel, 2001). The assignment of responsibility following an unfavorable event affects the intensity of an individuals emotional reaction (Ortony et al., 1988). In other words, the consumers perception of causality plays a critical role in the anger experience. This aspect of anger is particularly interesting because the theory suggests proper blame assignment provides a guide for future behavior or remedy (Swanson and Kelley, 2001; Bitner et al., 1990; Folkes et al., 1987; Weiner, 1985; Folkes, 1984). In fact, Chebat and Slusarczyk (2005) found that attributing blame to the rm or the individual lead to different emotional and behavioral results. Later, Menon and Dube (2004) explored the role provider responses can play in the relationship between consumer anger and subsequent satisfaction judgments. Their article was based on the idea that consumer satisfaction could be improved by employing appropriate provider responses to

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specic consumer emotions like anxiety and anger. The authors found that consumer evaluation of these responses mediated the relationship between emotion intensity and satisfaction with the encounter especially for anger. Menon and Dube (2004) found that rms seemed to have a difcult time responding appropriately to consumer anger due to its threatening and highly contagious nature. These results suggest additional information can be gained by focusing on specic emotions. The concept of emotions within consumption experiences is important because they are thought to inuence consumers satisfaction as well as behavior (Van Dolen et al., 2001). Research examining the attribution-affect-behavior sequence has found consumers who blame the rm were angrier and were more likely to complain and less likely to repurchase (Diaz et al., 2002; Folkes et al., 1987). Likewise, anger has been shown to have a detrimental effect on post-purchase behavior thereby increasing the likelihood of complaint behavior, negative word-of-mouth, and third-party action and further decreasing the likelihood of repurchase (Kalamas et al., 2008; Chebat and Slusarczyk, 2005; Bougie et al., 2003).The outcomes of anger incidents represent moments of truth for rm relationships and in some cases determine if the relationships will continue or not.

provide sufcient reason for using an online data collection technique. When using CIT, it is necessary to let the data drive theory. Therefore the sample cannot be determined apriori and data collection must continue until the point of theory saturation is reached (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). Data were collected from 1006 respondents, across three convenience samples, in an effort to achieve a broad level of generalizability. Sample In the rst sample (SR), IRB trained undergraduate marketing students were used to recruit non-student participants to complete the online survey as part of an extra credit assignment. Forty-eight students served as recruiters. None of the student recruiters were allowed to complete a survey. Potential participants were provided with the website address where they could go to complete the survey online. In an effort to validate the sample, survey participants were asked to provide their email addresses. In exchange, their names were entered into a rafe for four American Express gift cards valued at $50 each. Following data collection, each participant was contacted through email to conrm their participation; 34 percent did so. In the second sample (CS), nancial planning clients were emailed a letter of introduction from their respective advisor detailing the study and its purpose. The clients were asked to voluntarily take the survey. In the third sample (OS), the author enlisted the services of Zoomerang. The online rm emailed individuals from dened demographic groups and asked them to participate in the survey in exchange for entering their name into a sweepstakes drawing. Each incident was required to have evoked feelings of anger from the consumer and have involved a service encounter. All incidences which failed to meet these criteria were deleted from the sample. The SR sample yielded 323 completed surveys and 259 usable critical incidents. The majority of the sample was female (65.6 percent), between the ages of 19 and 54 (91 percent) and Caucasian (91 percent). A majority (90 percent) of sample reported at least some college education. In the CS sample, 300 emails were sent out and the response rate was 80 percent resulting in 193 usable critical incidents. The majority of the sample was female (86 percent), between the ages of 25 and 54, and mostly African-American (73 percent). A majority of the sample (95.2 percent) reported at least some college education. In the OS sample, 4,677 individuals resembling the US population (80 percent Caucasian, 12 percent African-American, 8 percent Other) were asked to participate in the survey. The response rate was 9.49 percent and yielded 280 usable surveys. The majority of the sample was female (57 percent), between the ages of 19 and 64, and Caucasian (93 percent). A majority of the sample (72.4 percent) reported at least some college education. The study began with three open-ended questions. First, participants were asked to describe any incident with a service provider which occurred during the last two years and left them angry. Second, they were asked to explain their decision to either complain or not. Third, participants were asked if they decided to terminate their relationship as a result of the incident. If not, participants were asked to indicate which actions they took as a result of the anger evoking incident (See Table I). 422

Method
Critical incident technique This research sought to explore the typical causes of consumer anger and the factors which damage the consumer-provider relationship by using the critical incident technique (CIT). The CIT consists of a set of specically dened procedures for collecting observations of human behavior and classifying them in ways which make them useful in addressing practical problems (Flanagan, 1954). CIT uses content analysis of stories told by consumers and classies them into categories based on the outcome or situational factors reported for the event (Bitner et al., 1990). The CIT is especially well suited for identifying critical aspects of service encounters (Chung-Herrera et al., 2004; Hoffman et al., 2003; Bitner et al., 1994; Bitner et al., 1990). Emotions, like consumer anger, elicited during consumption experiences are believed to leave strong affective traces in episodic memory (Cohen and Areni, 1991). These memories are believed to be highly accessible and readily retrieved making CIT a logical data collection method for this study. This technique has been utilized in two key studies which sought to classify important occurrences which potentially lead to (dis)satisfaction and switching behavior in service encounters (Bitner et al., 1990; Keaveney, 1995). Data collection Data collection for this research was conducted on online. Marketers have shown increased interest in applying online data collection techniques (Ilieva et al., 2002). There are numerous advantages to online data collection including: low cost to the researcher, access to a wide audience, speed of data collection, and ease of data entry (Evans and Mathur, 2005; Granello and Wheaton, 2004; Ilieva et al., 2002). In addition, several researchers have found that web-based surveys provide more detailed and comprehensive information than mail surveys (Bachman et al., 1996; Mehta and Sivadas, 1995; Schaefer and Dillman, 1998; Stanton, 1998). Such ndings

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Table I Future behavior responses

1 % I continue to do business with this rm . . . But not as much But not at the same location But not for certain types of products/services But will avoid certain employees Because I have to 35.4 14.9 11.8 19.9 24.8 2 % 36 23 10 12 21 3 % 34 15.2 9.9 18.3 27.3

Note: Multiple answers led to total percentage over 100

Results
The coding procedure used here was adapted from the techniques suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1998). First, each interview was read and reread in order to familiarize the coder with the data. Second, based on pre-tests ndings, the incidents were deductively categorized into three causes of consumer anger. Coders were free to introduce new categories but none emerged. Next, through an inductive process, coders classied incidents into subgroups based on situations prevalent in consumer anger experiences. Finally, the behavioral results of consumer anger were classied. These three areas correspond to the research questions being explored. In an effort to reduce researcher bias, several steps suggested by Kolbe and Burnett (1991) were taken to improve category and inter-judge reliability. Two coders were given detailed coding instructions, thoroughly trained and performed two pretest. The pretests were used to develop the coding instructions, rene the questionnaire, and ensure richness and depth in each incident. Each coder categorized the sample separately and independently of the other. These steps resulted in 85 percent inter-judge reliability being obtained. Inter-judge reliabilities above 80 percent are considered satisfactory (Bitner et al., 1990; Kolbe and Burnett, 1991). The incidents described by participants covered a variety of service contexts including: department and retail stores (197), restaurants (155), healthcare providers (63), airlines and hotels (55), cable TV companies (47), as well as automotive dealerships (30). Table II contains a breakdown of the type of rms reported across all three samples. Each sample was made up of retail or department stores, restaurants, healthcare institutions, and other miscellaneous service providers. Table II Firm types
Sample Type of rm Retail or department store Restaurant Healthcare industry, medical personnel Travel industry, hotel, airline Automotive repair, car dealership Telecommunication industry, cell phone, cable providers Other 1 % 35.5 22.8 8.9 7.3 5 5 12.7 Sample 2 % 18.7 18.7 6.2 11.4 5.2 10.9 17.6 3 % 24.6 21.4 10 5 2.5 4.6 16.4

Causes The incidents revealed three causes of consumer anger: broken promises, unfair treatment, and expressed hostility. The broken promises category was dened by an individuals belief that the rm did not fulll its promises or obligations owed to the consumer. These incidents dealt with situations where promises were broken by the rm or its employees. The unfairness category was dened by an individuals belief that the actions of the rm or its employees were wrong or unfair. This category involved situations that excessively favored the rm. These perceptions of unfairness were key factors in consumers post purchase decision making. The expressed hostility category was dened by an individuals belief that someone at the rm expressed hostility toward them. In these incidents the rules of behavior for buyers and sellers appeared to have been violated. This category involved breaches of accepted social norms. Consumer anger experiences are pivotal moments in consumerprovider relationships. Although previous research suggests rms have a much more difcult time responding appropriately to consumer anger than other emotions, it is crucial service providers nd more effective ways of managing anger in the service encounter. See Table III for examples of typical consumer anger incidents. Traditionally, attribution has been a focal point of research concerning negative consumer emotions. However, anger is generally based on blame being externally based thereby making the experience of consumer anger highly situation dependent. As a result, this research explored 732 incidents of consumer anger for common situational themes. The results of this research were the creation of a more generalizable classication (See Table IV). In the second research question, each of the three categories was divided into subcategories. Each coder was instructed to create their own subcategories for reoccurring situational elements they noticed in the critical incidents. At the completion of each study analysis, the coders came together in order to compare and nalize their subcategories. First, the broken promises category was subcategorized into situations involving poor service, employee mistakes, and unresponsiveness. Such situations caused the moment of truth to fall short of consumer expectations. Next, the reviews of the unfair treatment category lead to the creation of several subcategories that tended to involve excessive wait times, repetitive or merry-go-round processes, and poor rm policies. The expressed hostility category was further subcategorized into incidents involving rudeness or unprofessional behavior on the part of rm employees. The frequencies of subcategory incidences are detailed in Table V. Examples illustrating each subcategory are shown in Table VI. The poor service category is the most frequently coded subcategory of broken promises, followed by mistakes and unresponsiveness. These incidents involved minimal service quality, errors and omissions in service delivery, and failure to respond to expressed consumer needs or concerns. The main category unfairness was most frequently subcategorized into waiting, merry go round processes, and policy issues. Anger evoking incidents classied in this category involved excessive waiting times, repetitive service failures, and unfair rm policies. Finally, the smallest main category of expressed hostility was divided into rude and unprofessional subcategories. Incidents in these subcategories involved rude, mean, derogatory comments, or inappropriate behavior by employees. 423

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Table III Consumer anger examples

Category Broken promises Examples An internet order was delayed at the warehouse of the shipping company. After several calls and giving of directions to home, the package arrived four days later than retailer had promised I ordered a product with a money-back guarantee. The product caused an allergic reaction. I returned the un-used portion which was 95 percent of the order. I did not hear back: I made many contacts. They refused credit. They threatened law suit, etc. I mailed a copy of the guarantee, credit card charge, UPS return documentation. No credit was issued for about eight months Our ladies group from church had reservations at a very nice hotel. The reservations had been booked for months in advance and veried several times before our arrival. When we tried to check in we were told that they had over booked by 100 rooms. We had to wait several hours before they found us a room. This delay cause some to skip dinner and some were late for the convention. A fun trip turned out to be very stressful for the entire group About a week before Christmas 2004, I purchased two shirts from a clothing store at the Galleria. On January 7, 2005 I decided the $80 for each shirt was not worth it and wanted to take it back. When I arrived at the counter to return the shirts, the lady said that the last day to return any items purchased before Christmas was January 5th and they had already extended it to January 6. She said the clerks should have told me and stamped my receipt as well. My receipt was not stamped and I was never informed of this. I have never heard of this type of return policy. It should have been printed on the back of the receipt, like most other retailers do. Not only was I not able to return my shirt, I also could not get a store credit. I found this extremely disappointing and have not shopped there since When returning an item of clothing to Wal-Mart, the consumer service rep. was rude. Because I did not have a sales receipt she kept questioning me as to when I purchased the item. When I told her the reason I was returning it was that it didnt t she asked why I didnt buy the right size to begin with. Her attitude was very negative. When I got home I called the store manager and complained. He was very apologetic and said that he would speak to the lady At a retail store this man at the checkout counter yelled at me and told me to get to the end of the line because I was standing in the wrong place. I was eight months pregnant at the time

Unfair treatment

Expressed hostility

Table IV Causes of consumer anger

Broken promises % n 60.2 51.1 53.4 156 107 160 Unfairness % n 26.0 34.6 36.4 69 75 108 Expressed hostility % n 11.7 9.2 5.3 30 23 21

Sample 1 2 3

Note: Difference between reported values and 100% are unclassiable incidents

Consequences A study conducted by Kalamas et al. (2008), examined the effects of anger on consumer evaluations and post purchase behaviors. They found as the intensity of the anger state increased, consumers were more likely to purposefully levy consequences. In fact, angry consumers were more likely to complain and engaged in third-party action. Similarly, the Table V Consumer anger subcategory frequencies

results of this study suggested consumer anger had an impact on consumers responses and provider relationships. In each of the three samples, participants indicated they participated in more traditionally examined responses to negative service encounters like negative word-of-mouth and complaint behaviors at increased levels. Approximately 70 percent of participants in each sample decided to engage in negative word-of-mouth about the incident. In addition, across all three samples at least 60 percent of participants chose to engage in complaint behavior. Therefore, offending rms can be assured their blunders will not remain private and will be recounted to others. This fact is important because many consumers will stop or never begin purchasing the offending rms products or services due to negative word of mouth (Aron et al., 2006). Although these responses are important they are not the focus of this research. The ndings of this study focus on the decision to terminate or continue the rm relationship. The results suggest a continuum of consequences rather than a simple yes or no decision.

1 Main category Broken promises Subcategories Poor service Employee mistakes Unresponsiveness Waiting Merry go round process Policy triumphs common sense Rudeness Unprofessional behavior % 50.6 39.7 6.4 63.8 7.2 10.1 60 16.6

n
79 62 10 44 5 7 18 5

% 62.5 25 15.4 48 32 17.3 39.1 47.8

n
65 26 16 36 24 13 9 11

% 62.5 34.7 13.8 41.6 15.7 19.4 71.4 28.6

n
90 50 20 45 17 21 15 6

Unfair

Expressed Hostility

424

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Table VI Consumer anger subcategory examples

Category Broken promises Subcategory Poor service Examples We had some work performed on a condominium we just purchased. Specically, we had some tile laid. The work was performed carelessly and of very poor quality. We ended up having to have the tile replaced along with repairing much property damage. We spent much time going back and forth to the store where we purchased the tile and services in order to get it corrected Took suit to cleaners. They used too much heat or steam and ruined suit I was at Wendys and asked someone to clean the tables because there wasnt one clean table to eat on. After having nished our lunch on the dirty table I complained to someone and said that now would be a good time to clean the tables since they werent busy. The man just looked at me and didnt move an inch When I went to the emergency room for stitches and they left me sitting there for two hours because they forgot I was there I had paid for an insurance contract and subsequently discovered that the price was higher than the agent had promised. I tried to get my money back and it took several months with several phone calls to the agent to nally work things out to my satisfaction I bought an article of clothing that was damaged, and the store employee told me that they did not accept returns Once, while patronizing a particular restaurant, I received awful service. The employees were rude, the manager was unconcerned about the rudeness of the employees, and the overall experience was very upsetting I went to a department store to buy some perfume of a certain kind and the girl working the counter looked at me and said We only sell upscale in this store! She didnt know the kind I wanted is upscale as she called it

Employee mistakes Unresponsiveness

Unfair treatment

Waiting Merry go round process Policy triumphs common sense Rudeness Unprofessional behavior

Expressed hostility

On one end of the continuum were consumers who decided to terminate the relationship. Not surprisingly, consumer anger incidents resulted in 43 percent, 48 percent, and 38 percent of participants across the samples deciding to no longer do business with the rm in question. This represents a considerable loss of business for the service provider. It is clear that dissatisfying consumers results in increased switching behavior. At the other end of the continuum were consumers who decided to stay. In these incidents the resulting consequence appeared to be no consequence as 57 percent, 52 percent, and 62 percent of participants in each sample chose to remain with the rm. Traditionally, managers have viewed this as the optimal outcome and that through the use of appropriate service recovery measures rms could retain dissatised consumers and even restore or improve upon the previous positive relationship. The consumer decision not to terminate has generally been interpreted by management to mean that there was little to no damage to the consumer-rm relationship. Findings from this research do not support this interpretation. The mid-point of the continuum were consumers who decided to continue their relationship and levied stiff consequences against anger evoking rms. Participants reported actively taking steps to reduce their reliance on these service providers and or reduce the likelihood of experiencing future service failures. In fact, many participants reported making these behavioral changes as a way of punishing the service provider. Table I details the various decisions made by consumers. First, 35.4 percent, 36 percent, and 34 percent of the participants in each sample reduced their patronage with the service provider. Across samples, 11.8 percent, 10 percent, and 9.9 percent of participants stopped shopping for certain products or services. Both of these responses show consumers actively seeking to reduce their reliance on these providers for needed products and services. As a result the decision to terminate the relationship is not the only consequence managers need to be considering. 425

Second, 34.8 percent, 35 percent, 33.5 percent of the participants altered their behavior by either changing locations or avoiding certain employees. This illustrated the participants desire to maintain the relationship while reducing the possibility of future failures. Third, 24.8 percent, 21 percent, 27.3 percent of participants across samples maintained their relationship because they had no other choice. These participants expressed a lack of options (real or perceived) which prevented them from changing their behavior. Overall, these ndings show experiences of consumer anger do damage the consumer-rm relationship. Although consumer decisions to terminate the relationship after anger incidents are likely and damaging, the other consequences are harder to detect and create new opportunities for competition.

Managerial implications
Research focused on consumer anger evoking incidents has the potential to improve both the theoretical and managerial knowledge of consumer anger and service recovery. The ndings of this research have a number of implications for managers. First, the results show consumer anger experiences are damaging to consumer-rm relationships. These occurrences are costly in terms of both time and money invested by both parties to build the relationship. Neither the rm nor the consumer will realize the full potential of its investments. The rm will not realize the full consumer lifetime value and the consumer will not experience the full benets and convenience of the relationship. Second, the ndings indicate consequences of consumer anger cover more than just switching behavior. Consumers respond to anger evoking situations in many ways and managers would be remiss not to consider all the options available. Consumers may reduce their patronage levels (i.e. partial defection), change purchase locations, remove the rm from their choice set for particular products or services, and possibly

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avoid certain employees in an effort to prevent future negative experiences. Third, the ndings illustrate that retention is not necessarily indicative of successful service recovery. Consumers who remain in the relationship may still be angry, levying consequences, and or preparing to leave. Consequently, managers must be prepared to effectively prevent or respond to these incidents. The situational causes of consumer anger detailed by this research will be useful to managers because they are identiable and therefore preventable. Managers will now be able to put procedures in place to alert them to possible anger evoking occurrences. For example, if during a service call it takes more than three calls to resolve the issue the call is automatically transferred over to a special customer care representative whose main priority is to complete the call and is empowered to do so. In addition, employees cited for rudeness are immediately sent for additional training. Finally, these ndings are in line with the cognitive appraisal theory which poses that specic appraisals of situations lead to specic emotions which then result in specic consequences. Hence, consumer anger stems from broken promises, unfair treatment, and or expressed hostility and then results in very specic behaviors, like exit, reduced patronage, change of locations, etc. This research provides additional support for the emotion specicity approach. By focusing on anger we can more clearly understand how these situations manifest themselves and inuence service encounters.

Limitations and future research

This research has several limitations. First, this study looked across many rms to increase generalizability however specic industries may have unique situational causes of consumer anger. Future research could examine the antecedents of consumer anger by industry. Second, the exploratory nature of this research while appropriate precludes strong causal conclusions. Subsequent research could employ an experimental design to examine some of the relationships highlighted in this study. In addition, future research could examine the role switching barriers play in consumer anger episodes. It was apparent from this research that many consumers perceived limited options in terms of their future purchase decisions due to switching barriers like contractual obligations or monopolistic industries. It is not clear how consumers with limited options deal with their anger. Future research could examine the consequences of consumer anger given these constraints.

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About the author

Venessa Funches received her PhD from the University of Alabama. She frequently draws from her work experience with companies such as Philip Morris USA, Prudential, SouthTrust, and Nationwide Financial to fuel her research and teaching interest. Venessa Funches can be contacted at: vfunches@aum.edu

Executive summary and implications for managers and executives

This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives a rapid appreciation of the content of the article. Those with a particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the research undertaken and its results to get the full benet of the material present. Well. We got away with that! might be the response of a manager whose company has angered a customer but managed to retain the offended persons business. Customers defection can be a nightmare, especially if they go straight to the welcoming arms of a competitor. However, managers who think the problem is over if the customer does not switch allegiance might just be fooling themselves. Traditionally, managers have viewed this as the optimal outcome and that through the use of appropriate service recovery measures rms could retain dissatised consumers and even restore or improve on a previous positive relationship. The consumer decision not to terminate the relationship has generally been interpreted by management to mean that there was little to no damage to the consumer-rm relationship. Findings from Venessa Funches research explained in The consumer anger phenomena: causes and consequences do not support this interpretation. At least you know where you are if you have lost a customer, but if they stay you have people who may be plotting to leave at a future time, or deliberately avoiding the person in your organization who has angered them. In addition to putting effort into ensuring customers do not switch, managers should also try to ensure that customers are not staying just because they have to as there is no alternative supplier. Some customers may still be buying (but not as much), others may be taking steps to avoid any contact with an employee they consider hostile to them and consequently do not want to deal with any more. Others will avoid buying certain of your services/products if they can possibly get them elsewhere. All are situations which indicate that the mere continuance of a relationship is not a success for the rm. A customers description of hostility was: When returning an item of clothing, because I did not have a sales receipt she kept questioning me as to when I purchased the item. When I told her the reason I was returning it was that it did not t, she asked why I did not buy the right size to begin with. Her

attitude was very negative. Another was a claim that a checkout employee yelled at a heavily pregnant customer and told her to get to the end of the line because she was standing in the wrong place. Unfair treatment was claimed when a customer returning a shirt was told the deadline for returning items bought before Christmas had expired and she should have been told that at the time of purchase. The customer said she was not told of the deadline and has not shopped at the store since. Although the study focuses on decisions to terminate or continue a rm relationship, offending rms can rest assured that, whatever happens, their blunders will not remain private and will be recounted to others. Apart from the offended customer, many other consumers may stop or never begin purchasing the rms products or services due to negative word-of-mouth. In other words consumer anger experiences are indeed damaging to consumer-rm relationships. These occurrences are costly in terms of both time and money invested by both parties to build the relationship. Neither the rm nor the consumer will realize the full potential of its investments. The rm will not realize the full consumer lifetime value and the consumer will not experience the full benets and convenience of the relationship. Consumers respond to anger evoking situations in many ways and managers would be remiss not to consider all the options available. Consumers may reduce their patronage levels (i.e. partial defection), change purchase locations, remove the rm from their choice set for particular products or services, and possibly avoid certain employees in an effort to prevent future negative experiences. As suggested earlier, retention is not necessarily indicative of successful service recovery. Consequently, managers must be prepared to effectively prevent or respond to these incidents and enable themselves to put procedures in place to alert them to possible anger evoking occurrences. For example, if during a service call it takes more than three calls to resolve the issue the call is automatically transferred to a special customer-care representative whose main priority is to complete the call and is empowered to do so. In addition, employees cited for rudeness are immediately sent for additional training. Findings are in line with the cognitive appraisal theory which poses that specic appraisals of situations lead to specic emotions which then result in specic consequences. Hence, consumer anger stems from broken promises, unfair treatment, and or expressed hostility and then results in very specic behaviors, like exit, reduced patronage, change of locations, etc. This research provides additional support for the emotion specicity approach. By focusing on anger we can more clearly understand how these situations manifest themselves and inuence service encounters. (A precis of the article The consumer anger phenomena: causes and consequences. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)

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