Fraudulent Return Proclivity: An Empirical Analysis

While many frameworks of service dynamics assume that consumers will not intentionally disrupt service encounters, a growing body of studies argues that dysfunctional customer behaviors are far from rare. Although a number of studies have explored such behaviors, deliberate fraudulent returning by consumers is relatively under-researched. Fraudulent returning refers to consumers taking back goods to a retailer knowing that such a return is contrary to the firm or legal rules and regulations governing such returns (including returning functional but used or consumer-damaged goods). This article is structured in the following way. First, in order to clarify the nature of demographic control factors, we briefly outline existing research into the demographic characteristics of complainers and fraudulent returners. Thereafter, we present the findings of a study designed to identify which demographic factors are linked to fraudulent returning. Second, we present a conceptual model of the psychographic antecedents of fraudulent returning proclivity. After describing the research design, methodology, and the approach adopted to test this model, we present the results of a second study developed to model the predictors of fraudulent proclivity that also controls for the demographic factors identified in Study 1. We conclude with a discussion of the contributions and limitations of these studies.