Consumer Guilt: A Model of Its Antecedents and Consequences

Consumer guilt is a feeling which results from one’s recognition of having failed to achieve or violated internalized personal or social moral standards in the context of consumption. The present study aims to contribute to current knowledge of consumer guilt by offering a comprehensive structural model of consumer guilt, its antecedents and consequences. The findings reveal that regret due to action, regret due to inaction, transgression of norms, self-control failures and indulgence in hedonic desires are the antecedents that significantly explain consumer guilt. Among coping responses studied in literature, only the ones that relate to reparative action, psychological repair work and justification significantly loaded to coping responses factor. Comparison of respondents with high and low guilt scores revealed significant differences.