Effect of recommendation from close others on consumers' regret: the role of perceived internal causal attributions

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate whether recommendations from close people influence consumers' regret in the context of consumption failure. Based on existing literature, we proposed that a close person's recommendation attenuates consumers' regret, and that this effect can be mediated by perceived causal attribution. To test our hypotheses, we conducted two experiments involving 148 and 277 participants, respectively. In the experiments, decision types (close person's recommendation vs. freewill) were manipulated in a writing task about the consumption failure experience. The results revealed that close person's recommendation plays a role in reducing the decision maker's internal causal attributions and alleviates regret in the consumption failure context. The implications of the theories of emotions and human relations are also discussed.