Post-purchase customer regret: results of the pilot study

Purpose: The main objective of this paper is to present the results of a pilot study on customer regret in a negative purchase situation. The paper presents the context of regret, the causes of negative emotions, how people react afterwards, and suggests themes or relationships worth exploring in more depth in future studies. Design/methodology/approach: The study took an exploratory, qualitative and quantitative approach. Data was collected through a survey using questionnaires with closed and unstructured open-ended questions. A snowball sample of 70 participants was used to describe the purchase context, emotions experienced and subsequent actions taken. Findings: The study found that the most common and strongly felt emotions after an unsuccessful purchase were disappointment, dissatisfaction, anger and regret – with regret reported by over 75% of respondents. The main causes of negative experiences were poor product quality, misleading descriptions, delivery problems and poor customer service, most commonly related to online shopping. Strong feelings of regret made it difficult for participants to accept the situation and some reported changing their shopping habits as a result. Research limitations: Although it is a pilot study, the main limitation of it is the small sample size. Additionally the open-ended questions make it difficult to analyse the data and generalize findings. Practical implications: Organizations, retailers and marketers should pay attention to key triggers of negative emotions (as poor product quality, misleading online representations, and inadequate customer service) and introduce improvement and preventive actions in these areas. Originality/value: The paper is based on own surveys and data analyses. Keywords: consumer regret, post-purchase behaviour, negative consumer experiences, negative emotions. Category of the paper: research paper.