Customer backlash against pandemic Surcharges: The mediating role of inferred negative motives and implications for the “Surcharge Economy”
研究发现疫情附加费会引发顾客负面动机推断，降低购买、退货和小费意愿；说明附加费用于清洁和安全设备可缓解负面反应，但使其可选或解释为弥补损失无效。
• Pandemic surcharges reduce purchase, return, and tipping intentions. • Customers infer negative motives behind pandemic surcharges. • Inferred negative motives mediate the negative effect of surcharges. • Making surcharges optional does not improve customer responses. • Surcharges for cleaning and safety equipment improve customer responses indirectly. The services sector was adversely affected by the pandemic. Supply chain disruptions, staff shortages, and low customer traffic led revenues to decline. To offset these challenges, some businesses introduced pandemic surcharges, which were not well received by customers. The current work aimed to understand customer backlash against pandemic surcharges and test potential strategies to reduce negative reactions to such surcharges. Across three experiments, results offer evidence for a key mediator whereby surcharges increase perceived negative firm motives, which leads to lower purchase, return, and tipping intentions. Making the surcharge optional and justifying it based on lost business were ineffective in reducing negative response to the surcharge. However, explaining that the surcharge was needed to cover additional cleaning costs or buy safety equipment reduced inferred negative motives and consequently increased purchase and tipping intentions. Implications for a broader “surcharge economy” are discussed.