NEGATIVE PURCHASE EXPERIENCES: MODEL AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

During the purchasing process, individuals may experience several kinds of negative experiences. Initially, individuals may experience a pre-purchase confusion regarding whether to buy a product, which product or brand to buy, or how to agree with other family members on what to buy. Further, following the purchase of a product (the post-purchase phase), the customer may experience either cognitive dissonance (if returning the product if allowed) or regret (if return is not allowed). In this review, we will discuss subtypes, causes, and consequences of pre-purchase confusion, post-purchase cognitive dissonance, and post-purchase regret, as well as their relationships. We will show that confusion, dissonance, and regret all lead to brand switching and negative word of mouth. In addition, pre-customer purchase leads to a delay in purchasing (or not buying at all), while cognitive dissonance leads to return of purchased products. Importantly, we will discuss a multitude of future experimental studies on understanding and reducing negative purchase experiences.