Consumer Grudgeholding: Toward a Conceptual Model and Research Agenda

Abstract

The topic of consumer grudgeholding has received limited attention in the marketing and consumer behavior contexts. The act of holding a grudge is one of great importance because it describes what seems to be an irrational, intensely emotional behavior or set of behaviors on the part of the consumer, yet the behaviors associated with grudgeholding can have devastating effects on the marketing entity. Any member of the marketing channel, including product and service marketers, retailers, and advertisers, may lose a customer while receiving little reason why, or while being subject to negative word-of-mouth or other retaliatory measures. The current research offers a conceptual model of the consumer grudgeholding response, incorporating established theoretical research such as attribution, coping, voice and exit, perceived justice, consumer loyalty, and complaining behavior. A detailed model of grudgeholding behavior is presented with an agenda for future research.