From remarkably frank and believable responses to their research questionnaire, marketers Tian and Keep provide a wide ranging catalogue of frauds that customers perpetrate on businesses--and why they do it. The researchers report that customer fraud seems to be achieving the status of socially acceptable behavior. Not only do individuals practice it themselves, they share their tactics and strategies with friends, then justify it by saying they are attempting to reestablish justice in the marketplace. The result is a richly detailed study of a growing and economically dangerous trend--and the steps that marketers can take to combat it.
About the Author
KELLY TIAN is Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Kentucky, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on ways to design consumer behavior research.
BILL KEEP is Associate Professor of Marketing at Quinnipiac University.
