Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
PhD student of Marketing Management,, Faculty of Management,, Aras International Campus, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
2
PhD student in marketing management, faculty of Management-University of Tehran ,Iran
3
PhD student in Marketing Management, School of Management, Aras International Campus, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
4
Associate Prof., Department of Management, faculty of management and Economics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
10.22059/jibm.2023.357967.4570
Abstract
Objective: The prevalence of fraud in chain stores is one of the main challenges in retail industry. This unethical phenomenon can be examined from several perspectives: fraud committed by customers in purchasing from chain stores, fraud committed by store employees, or fraud committed by the stores against the owners of capital and stocks (stakeholders) and finally the fraud that the stores do against their customers! We focus on the later ascpet of fraud and will focus on customer deception by chain stores. A research gap has been felt in this type of customer deception, and the present study examines and identifies the common and widespread methods of cheating and deceiving customers in chain stores.
Method: A combined and mixed approach has been used to depict the dimensions of customer fraud and deception by chain stores. By surfing the literature, some in-depth interviews were conducted with target customers (with high purchase frequency), key informants and profesionals in retail industry. The list of widespread components of customer deception in chain stores was extracted. Then, the conceptual framework and initiative customer deception model was drawn using cognitive mapping method and with the consultation of retail industry experts. Finally, by using a quantitative approach (field survey) to evaluate the validity of the initial model and using the structural equation modeling technique, the final model is coined by "Customer Deception Tree".
Findings: The amount of perceived fraud (customer deception) by chain stores in the past year is alarming so that more than half of the samples have felt of fraud and deception. This figure of deception is a warning sign for the retail industry. The investigated components of customer fraud are shown in the form of a deception tree model. The common methods of deceiving customers are shown in the five main branches of this tree and including deceptive advertisements, non-commitment to the promised services (breach of services), manipulation in the price of goods (overselling), manipulation in the characteristics of products (underselling) and manipulation in the place of arrangement of goods in shelves. The mutual interactions between these embranchment along with the corresponding components are presented in the embranchment explained in this model.
Conclusion: Customers deception in retial industry is one of the nascent and emerging unethical phenomena that has been growing recently by chain stores. In this research, the different aspects of this phenomenon have been examined and its constructive elements have been extracted and presented in the form of a model. The explained model can be used as a guide and roadmap for all beneficiaries and stakeholders (e.g., marketers, policy makers, etc.) in retail industry, especially decision makers and strategist in chain stores to prevent and overcome customer deception. Also, this model is useful tool for inspection, regulatory and governance institutions, not only to update their monitoring checklists and increase the punishment of fraudsters, but also they can be more diligent in honoring and enforcing the rights of defrauded customers. In addition, other non-governmental organizations and consumer rights advocates are among the main audiences of this research, who can get benefits from these results to advance their activities.
Keywords
Main Subjects
)