How do customers react to preferential treatment? An affective events theory and time-lagged survey

Abstract

Understanding how preferential treatment influences customer behavior is pivotal in shaping effective marketing strategies. This study looks at how customers feel and act when they get special treatment compared to others (preferential treatment), using the idea of how emotions are stirred by certain events to understand its effect on what customers do (affective events theory). Using a time-lagged survey of 318 customers in the retail sector, we explored how preferential treatment influences three kinds of customer behavior: feeling extremely happy (customer delight), speaking favorably about a product or service (customer advocacy), and making unplanned purchases (impulse buying). We discovered that preferential treatment makes customers much happier, which then encourages them to both advocate for and buy products on a whim. Unexpectedly, our findings indicate that preferential treatment's ability to elevate customer happiness is somewhat diminished in those with a higher inclination toward seeking attention (attention-seeking motives), due to a perceived lack of genuineness or merit in the treatment received. Consequently, this study illustrates the complex dynamics of preferential treatment in enhancing customer delight, advocacy, and impulse purchasing, while also uncovering the noteworthy role of individual differences in these processes.