Consequences of customer powerlessness: Secondary control

✍ Scribed by Matthew Bunker; A. Dwayne Ball

• Book ID: 101772059
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 163 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1472-0817
• DOI: 10.1002/cb.287

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

This research investigated the consequences of powerlessness when consumers experience service failure with a company that has high‐exit barriers. The specific consequences investigated were three types of secondary control, which are grudge‐holding, avoidance (predictive avoidance), and retaliation desire. These secondary control coping strategies highlight consumers' ability to control their personal behaviors and thoughts, even when they cannot completely control the outcomes of a situation. A qualitative study, followed by a scenario‐based survey and structural equation model, suggest that the primary direct consequences of powerlessness in commercial relationships are grudge‐holding and predictive avoidance, and that both predictive avoidance and a desire to retaliate are further consequences of grudge‐holding. The results of this research underscore the importance of understanding the role of powerlessness and its consequences in consumer–firm relationships.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.