Preventing shoplifting: Exploring online comments to propose a model

Abstract

In recent years, the marketing literature has expended considerable effort to understand and theorize consumer misbehavior. However, scant research theoretically explores shoplifting. This is surprising, as currently, the annual cost of shoplifting is close to $50 billion in the United States. Utilizing a mixed‐methods approach, we conduct two studies. Study 1 is a qualitative content analysis of online consumer discussions with regard to shoplifting. Study 2 is an empirical examination that uses a US national sample of n = 1,001 consumers; it is designed to test specific hypotheses regarding antecedents to consumers’ intentions to shoplift using an interdisciplinary theoretical framework from criminology, psychology, and marketing. The model integrates research from these different disciplines to improve our understanding of shoplifting by offering avenues to tackle it that supersede traditional security measures in retail. The integrated conceptual framework extends the theory of planned behavior and routine activity theory in understanding the behavioral intentions behind shoplifting. The results show that the suitability of shoplifting targets, offender motivation, and the absence of capable guardians affect potential offenders’ attitudes, subjective norms, and confidence in their ability to shoplift, which, in turn, all influence the intention to shoplift. The results contribute to our understanding of shoplifting and provide implications for retail practitioners over and above merely augmenting store security.

The Impact of Online Reviews on the Information Flows and Outcomes of Marketing Systems

“…Externalities are the uncalculated costs and benefits of exchange (Mundt 1993). Online reviews create a forum for consumer misbehavior but they also provide a means by which consumers can reflect on consumer misbehaviors (Korgaonkar et al 2020). With this exception, we found almost no substantive findings about the externalities related to online reviews.…”

Phishing victimization among Malaysian young adults: cyber routine activities theory and attitude in information sharing online

“…Moreover, effective digital guardianship and online security management could lessen internet users' visibility from motivated offenders, thereby reducing the cybercrime victimization risk (Choi et al , 2019; Choi and Lee, 2017). Furthermore, internet users' exposure to potentially motivated offenders would change their attitude (Petrescu et al , 2018; Korgaonkar et al , 2019), which significantly influences the risk of crime victimization (Ellrich, 2016; Jansen and van Schaik, 2019). In particular, the MCMC’s report indicated that Malaysian young adults actively participate in social media for sharing and disseminating information (MCMC, 2020).…”

“…Similar to the cyber risky leisure and social media activities, it also increases the individual’s proximity to the motivated offenders and thus, more easily to be targeted by the offenders (Ngo et al , 2020; Choi, 2008). In the research field of shoplifting context, researchers noted that higher target suitability leads to one’s attitude change toward shoplifting (Korgaonkar et al , 2019). Thus, this study hypothesized that engaging in the cyber risky vocational activity leads to one’s attitude change, particularly attitude toward information sharing online.…”

“…Online capable guardianship was operationalized as online security management (Choi et al , 2019; Choi and Lee, 2017). Studies indicated that digital guardianship works effectively in determining the offender’s attitude, specifically, attitude toward shoplifting (Korgaonkar et al , 2019) and online software piracy (Petrescu et al , 2018), respectively. Likewise, this study hypothesized that effective online security management leads to a negative attitude toward information sharing online.…”

Developing a framework for unethical consumer behaviour: a qualitative study in two countries

“…(Fullerton and Punj, 1993;Lugosi, 2019). The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) can be considered an appropriate initial theoretical framework to guide UECB studies (Chang, 1998;Fukukawa, 2002;King et al, 2007;Potdar et al, 2017;Shaw et al, 2000;Shoham et al, 2008) as it identifies the various factors which influence the intention to perform UECB (Fukukawa et al, 2007;Korgaonkar et al, 2020). Given this and to better understand the UECB phenomenon in the Arab region, the current study set out to develop an advanced model of UECB for the Arabic consumer based on TPB (Ajzen, 1991) and the developed model of (Fukukawa et al, 2007) to determine the influences and motivating factors on UECB and rank these factors based on their strength of influence in the Arab consumers UECB adoption.…”