The effect of perceived CSR authenticity on consumer desire for revenge following service failure

The relationship between authentic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and consumer desire for revenge are examined in this dissertation. All of us encounter service failures in our daily lives; also, a 2017 survey result has showed that about 25% of over 60 million households that experienced a product or service failure. Therefore, when people see a service or product failure, they become feeling angry against brand, firm or personals; hereby they desire for revenge. CSR has been proven to have positive and negative effects on people's emotions in the consumer behavior literature, and if the CSR is authentic, how people's emotions change has been investigated in this dissertation. The dimensions of authentic CSR are determined as distinctiveness and socially connectedness by drawing on present literature. Distinctiveness means fit that refers to harmony between firm's vision or mission and its CSR initiatives, whereas socially connectedness represents transparency and responsiveness in terms of society and shareholders. In this thesis, the positive effect of authentic CSR on desire for revenge, anger and regret over choosing firm are examined by using experimental design.