Decoding revenge buying in retail: role of psychological reactance and perceived stress

Abstract

PurposeCOVID-19 pandemic-related Government restrictions on the movement of people resulted in consumers moving away from retail outlets. However, sporadic instances of an unexpected surge in retail buying happened across the world immediately after the lifting of such restrictions. This uncommon phenomenon, termed revenge buying, offered an opportunity to revive retail businesses. This paper applies Reactance Theory (RCT) and Self-determination Theory (SDT) to model consumers' revenge buying intentions.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 384 respondents in India using validated scales. The study used structural equation modelling for model testing.FindingsCOVID-19 restrictions resulted in autonomy need frustration in consumers, which induced psychological reactance and perceived stress. Psychological reactance positively impacted, while perceived stress negatively impacted revenge buying intentions. Thus, revenge buying was observed only when the psychological reactance was more than perceived stress.Research limitations/implicationsThis study, conducted in only one country with a limited convenience sample, limits the generalizability of findings.Originality/valueThis research model the psychological consequences of need frustration to explain the sporadic incidences of revenge buying in retail outlets. Further, it proposes sales recovery strategies for retailers in the immediate post-pandemic market scenarios. Retailers' strategies should focus on alleviating stress and anxiety because of health concerns, highlighting the retail buying experience to stimulate the need to visit the outlet and positioning retail buying as a potential reactance response by consumers.

Long-term changes in consumers' shopping behavior post-pandemic: an exploratory study

“…The study classified consumer groups based on their perceived negative emotions (i.e., anxiety, fear, depression, anger, and boredom) and mapped them with their shopping motivation and behaviour. Gupta and Mukherjee (2022) investigated how autonomy need frustration caused by government restrictions led to psychological reactance among consumers, which accelerated the revenge buying behavior. Additionally, the study indicated that in some cases, need frustration led to increased perceived stress in individuals, and such individuals went into a state of inertia, which subsequently negatively impacted revenge buying behavior.…”

Wait time speeds up: effects of scent arousal on time perception in service marketing

“…Stress is a common negative emotion in our daily lives. It has a significant impact on consumers' purchase behaviour (Gupta and Mukherjee, 2022) at a slower pace compared to their low-stress counterparts when exposed to the same stimuli (Bar-Haim et al, 2010). This phenomenon is explained in the attentional gate model (AGM), which has evolved from the internal clock model to measure the neural mechanisms of internal time perception in individuals (Zakay and Block, 1997).…”

“…Stress is a common negative emotion in our daily lives. It has a significant impact on consumers' purchase behaviour (Gupta and Mukherjee, 2022) and their perception of time during shopping experiences (Von Schéele and Haftor, 2018). Psychological research has demonstrated that individuals experiencing stress tend to perceive time as passing more slowly (Droit-Volet et al.…”

“Buy local” campaigns in times of crisis: insights from reactance theory

“…, 2022), the impact of social norms on consumer behavior (Melnyk et al. , 2022), revenge buying (Gupta and Mukherjee, 2022) and social media activism (Almazyad et al. , 2023).…”