Psychological shadows: The Dark Tetrad and fraudulent shopping practices

Fraudulent shopping practices, particularly fraudulent returns, result in significant financial losses for retailers and society. Despite this, the relationship between personality traits and such practices has received limited attention. This study explores the connection between Dark Tetrad traits and various types of fraudulent shopping behaviors. The sample comprised 250 US adults recruited through Prolific. The findings indicate that Dark Tetrad traits are linked to different fraudulent shopping practices. Specifically, Machiavellianism positively influences impulsive buying behavior. Psychopathy is associated with both previous experiences of fraudulent shopping and a proclivity for consumer fraudulent returns, exhibiting a strong effect without significant influence from demographic variables. Narcissism emerges as the sole trait related to knowledge of return policies, while Machiavellianism uniquely correlates with intentions for online returns. In contrast, sadism shows no significant relationship with any fraudulent shopping behaviors. The study concludes with practical and theoretical implications, highlighting the need for further research on this critical issue.