``Consumer-to-Brand Impoliteness'' in Luxury Stores

Elodie de Boissieu () and Bertrand Urien
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Elodie de Boissieu: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School
Bertrand Urien: LEGO - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion de l'Ouest - UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud - UBO - Université de Brest - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IBSHS - Institut Brestois des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société - UBO - Université de Brest - UBL - Université Bretagne Loire - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris]

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Abstract: In this article, we use Impoliteness Theory, defined as an intentional ``face-threatening'' deviant act, to understand consumer misbehavior in the luxury store subculture. Using a qualitative study based on Grounded Theory, we interviewed 14 luxury consumers and 18 salespeople working in luxury stores. We discovered that consumers use impoliteness in a normative exchange setting as a means of formulating their opposition to a brand's symbolic violence. Our research on deviant consumer behavior in luxury stores brings to light a new concept: ``Consumer-to-Brand Impoliteness''. Furthermore, we unveil four Consumer-to-Brand Impoliteness practices: ``Being Crude'', ``Interfering'', ``Mastering'', and finally, ``Blaspheming''. In a normative exchange context, understanding the underlying meanings of Consumer-to-Brand Impoliteness enables store managers to shape their responses according to the perceived level of such impoliteness practices. \textcopyright 2022 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords: Deviant behavior; Impoliteness; Luxury; Servicescape; Symbolic violence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04632306v1
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Published in Journal of Business Research, 2022, 146, pp.409-425. ⟨10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.02.078⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04632306

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.02.078

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