Thank you but no thank you: the impact of negative moral emotions on customer responses to preferential treatment

Abstract

Purpose Although preferential treatment has been considered a positive relationship marketing tactic, this research aims to examine how perceived harm to others as a result of preferential treatment invokes consumers’ negative moral emotions and negative attitudes towards the service provider. Design/methodology/approach Four studies are presented in this research. A pilot study first provides empirical evidence that customers who receive preferential treatment are aware of potential harm caused to other customers. Three experimental studies then test the hypothesis that shame and embarrassment mediate the effect of perceived harm to others on consumers’ responses to earned and unearned preferential treatment, respectively. Findings The present studies demonstrate that consumers naturally scan the environment and seek out information about others when judging their own experience; consequently, when preferential treatment is perceived to cause harm to others, it can trigger negative moral emotions. In particular, the authors show that shame mediates the effect of perceived harm to others when preferential treatment is earned, whereas embarrassment mediates this effect when preferential treatment is unearned. Research limitations/implications The results of this research contribute to the literature on earned and unearned preferential treatment and negative moral emotions. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to show that negative moral emotions may arise because of perceptions of harm to other customers, particularly in the context of earned preferential treatment. The authors demonstrate that ordinary shopping contexts have the potential to elicit these negative emotions, raising concerns about ethical and moral practices in service environments. Practical implications When designing relationship marketing programs incorporating preferential treatment, firms need to consider both the ethics of justice and the ethics of care. Guidelines considering ethics of care should be developed for employees to ensure appropriate training to deliver preferential treatment effectively and avoiding situations causing potential harm to others. Strategies could include encouraging employees to better scan the servicescape to identify if other customers’ needs should be attended first, and providing clearer justifications when administering preferential treatment. The provision of choices such as delayed redemption and passing on benefits to others can help minimise harm and potentially enhance customer service experience. Originality/value The studies presented here are the first to examine the role of perceived harm to others as an antecedent of consumers’ negative responses to preferential treatment. In particular, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to show that negative moral emotions may arise in the context of earned preferential treatment, calling into question some basic principles of relationship marketing.

Need for distinction moderates customer responses to preferential treatment

“…These research findings contribute to the growing literature on preferential treatment, moral emotions and the need for distinction. Although we are not the first researchers to demonstrate that preferential treatment may have negative outcomes (Jiang et al, 2013;Palmeira et al, 2016;Pontes et al, 2021), this is the first research showing that the effect of perceived harm to others on customers attitudes towards the service provider is moderated by the individual need for distinction and mediated by negative moral emotions, such that an effect is found for those with a low need for distinction but not for those with a high need for distinction. Previous research has identified that there are negative outcomes of preferential treatment in matters concerning the self.…”

“…Preferential treatment is often lauded for generating positive emotional and behavioural responses from customers who receive special benefits; however, emerging research calls into question the effectiveness of preferential treatment as a relationship marketing strategy by investigating its negative effects (Henderson et al , 2011; Jiang et al , 2013; Lacey et al , 2007; Palmeira et al , 2016; Pontes et al , 2021; Reinartz and Kumar, 2002; Wagner et al , 2009) . Research shows that advantaged customers may feel embarrassed when preferentially treated in the presence of other customers (Butori and De Bruyn, 2013, Pontes et al , 2021) or experience concerns about negative judgment and retaliation from others, which leads to social discomfort and reduced satisfaction (Jiang et al , 2013).…”

“…Preferential treatment allows service providers to fulfil the need for status and distinction that customers seek in consumption experiences (Drèze and Nunes, 2009;Henderson et al, 2011). This practice also encourages a customer's desire to be different from others by using scarcity appeals, uniqueness appeals and appeals to breaking the rules of one's reference group (Huang et al, 2014;Lynn and Snyder, 2002) Preferential treatment is often lauded for generating positive emotional and behavioural responses from customers who receive special benefits; however, emerging research calls into question the effectiveness of preferential treatment as a relationship marketing strategy by investigating its negative effects (Henderson et al, 2011;Jiang et al, 2013;Lacey et al, 2007;Palmeira et al, 2016;Pontes et al, 2021;Reinartz and Kumar, 2002;Wagner et al, 2009) . Research shows that advantaged customers may feel embarrassed when preferentially treated in the presence of other customers (Butori andDe Bruyn, 2013, Pontes et al, 2021) or experience concerns about negative judgment and retaliation from others, which leads to social discomfort and reduced satisfaction (Jiang et al, 2013).…”

Effects of social media brand-related content on fashion products buying behaviour – a moderated mediation model

“…Participants in the study were awarded a small monetary incentive (US$0.85). To ensure the quality of the panel data, the recruitment techniques were in line with best practices (Kees et al , 2017) and with past research on MTurk (Pontes et al , 2021; Pontes and Pontes, 2021; Pontes and Hoegg, 2020).…”

Laughing in the face of embarrassment: Humorous marketing messages, excitement, and embarrassing products in retail

“…While embarrassment was traditionally viewed as a self‐conscious emotion that requires the presence of others (Miller & Tangney, 1994; Tangney et al, 1996), it can also be experienced privately (private embarrassment) (Krishna et al, 2019), vicariously (Kilian et al, 2018), and in the presence of technology (Tsai et al, 2021), though technology may reduce embarrassment in comparison (Pitardi et al, 2021). Though some recent studies suggest that there may be some positive outcomes to embarrassment in some contexts (Herter et al, 2021; Tsai et al, 2021), the majority of the literature suggests that consumers strive to avoid embarrassment (Blair & Roese, 2013; Nichols et al, 2015; Pontes et al, 2021). While embarrassment has been studied in terms of how advertising may embarrass the consumer (Agarwal et al, 2013), the influence of perceptions of product embarrassment on the relationship between product message appeals and excitement has yet to be explored.…”