KEY POINTS:
You're hot, tired and angry with the shop assistant who has made today's trip to the Boxing Day sales a nightmare.
But what you do next all depends on whether you're an avenger, an altruist or a victim of a condition called consumer rage.
According to Dr Mike Lee, a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Auckland's Business School, "consumer retaliation" is something retailers in New Zealand have had fairly scant experience of but something they should still be wary of.
"In today's climate, with money tight and next year looming ahead as one to worry about, people who consider themselves to be unfairly treated by retailers this Christmas gift-buying season will be more and more likely to seek justice - so there could be a surge in consumer rage this Kiwi Yuletide season," he said.
The issue needed to be taken seriously by retailers because angry customers could cause psychological damage to employees or trashing of a brand or image.
Dr Lee, along with his Business School colleague Dr Karen Fernandez and Professor Miek Hymen from New Mexico State University, has completed research that shows customers, regardless of culture or context, can go to any extreme to retaliate against a retailer or company which has offended them.
Poor service is a major initiator of consumer rage, as are mistakes with orders, damaged or poor products, billing issues, rudeness and product failure.
The three customer traits the research identified are:
Avengers - customers who want to teach the service provider a lesson. Usually they're male, generally aggressive and take action only if they feel more powerful or higher in status than the offending service provider. People are less likely to become avengers when they feel lower in status than the offending service provider, as they may fear counter-measures, like staff who could sabotage food when it is returned.
Altruists - customers, again predominantly male, and have an urge to take action on behalf of others. Dr Lee says altruists perceive themselves as higher in status than others, and use retaliatory behaviours as a means to protect others from service providers' unjust actions.
Victims - customers who are most likely to be women, fuelled by emotions such as feeling cheated, being unimportant, offended and unappreciated. Feeling victimised by a retailer drives many enraged consumers to turn the tables on that retailer, so instead of feeling victimised the customer feels vindicated.
Dr Lee said as the economy slowed customers wouldn't just stop or slow their own consumption practices through boycotting, but would also engage in preventive consumption by actively preventing or impeding other customers from consuming a targeted product or service.
