Investigating unethical behaviour in e-commerce through the lens of fraud diamond theory

Purpose The purpose of the study is to understand how Gen Y and Gen Z make decisions regarding opportunistic return behaviour (ORB) in online shopping. Using the fraud diamond theory, this study explains that such behaviour occurs due to pressure, such as social and financial; rationalisation in the form of trait cynicism; opportunity through lenient return policies; and capability, which comes from knowing how return systems work. Furthermore, this study examines how customer service responsiveness can influence such behaviour, especially in the relationship between pressure, cynicism and opportunistic returns. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a sequential mixed-method design. Study 1 used survey responses from 417 young consumers, while Study 2 presented complementary effects that transformed the statistical links obtained from Study 1 into process-level explanations by utilising semi-structured interviews with 30 online shoppers. Findings Study 1 shows that social norms, financial pressure (pressure) and trait cynicism (rationalisation) have a significant impact on opportunistic return behaviour, while policy leniency (opportunity) and policy knowledge (capability) do not have a significant impact. The customer service responsiveness has a marginally significant impact between financial pressure & opportunistic return behaviour, a significant moderating impact between social norms & opportunistic return behaviour and no significant impact on trait cynicism & opportunistic return behaviour. Study 2 further explains the findings by showing that situational factors like feeling of being monitored, digital reputation signals, type of product, return fee structure and anti-wardrobing rules are the key factors which make opportunity and capability important in such behaviour. Research limitations/implications Future studies may adopt a longitudinal approach to assess the effects of opportunistic return behaviour (ORB) in digital retail. The study’s sample, which was primarily composed of Gen Y and Z consumers from India, limits generalisability across this age cohort and geographic region. Practical implications The study implies that online retailers need to go beyond rigid transactional policies and adopt strategies that understand how customers think and behave. Using psychological insights can help promote ethical behaviour without sacrificing customer satisfaction. The study offers a holistic framework that can help retailers identify, understand and mitigate fraudulent returns in the evolving e-commerce landscape. Originality/value While e-retailers’ unethical behaviour has been the focus of existing studies, consumers’ unethical conduct, particularly opportunistic return behaviour, has received less attention. Moreover, the Fraud Diamond Theory is a recognised framework in criminology for elucidating fraudulent conduct, but it has not been sufficiently contextualised within the e-commerce sector. Using a mixed-method approach to consumer return fraud provides a unique perspective for investigating the psychological and situational aspects of ORB.