The Effect of Third Party Procedural Justice Perceptions on Purchase Decisions: The Role of Uncontrolled Marketing Communications

Marketing scholars have long been interested in consumer likelihood to purchase and the antecedents that impact and influence these intentions. Management scholars have concurrently researched, primarily in the workplace, justice and injustice and the influencers and outcomes of these justice or injustice perceptions. This research conducts an online experiment to test the impact of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on third party consumer procedural justice perceptions and consumer‟s likelihood to purchase. With the emergence of interactive web platforms, consumers have more places than ever to share their opinions and perceptions of the companies where they shop for goods and services. There has been a power shift with respect to integrated marketing communications from the firm toward the consumer via these new Web 2.0 platforms. Consumer review forums and anti-brand sites are used to create the treatment conditions in this interdisciplinary research. I find that negative eWOM has a significant impact on respondent‟s likelihood to purchase. Additionally, negative eWOM also affected study participant‟s perceptions of the procedural justice of the firm. Last, the research found that consumer procedural justice perception is a significant predictor of consumer likelihood to purchase. In other words, the study indicates that third parties, unaffiliated with the firm, are sensitive to how the firm treats its employees, and these consumer perceptions can affect how likely they are to purchase from the firm. The study results provide evidence of the power of eWOM to persuade and influence consumer likelihood to purchase. Furthermore, the results show that consumers have an interest in the fair treatment of employees at the firms where they may make a purchase