Unethical customer behaviour: causes and consequences

Purpose Unethically behaving customers deviating from morally acceptable norms have posed an additional challenge to retailers, frontline employees (FLEs) and other in recent crisis-dominant environments. While research concerning customer behaviour ethicality focusses on purchasing modes consumption behaviour, unethicality all its facets receives limited attention, leaving dimensions of unethical (UCB) effective managerial strategies unexplored. The purpose this paper is describe UCB, investigate causes, explore consequences for FLEs infer practical implications retail management by collecting customers' FLEs' views collaboration each other. Design/methodology/approach Due the explorative nature research, qualitative semi-structured interviews with 45 51 were conducted, following a content analytical approach establishment inter-rater reliability coefficients. Findings findings reveal multiple UCB operating situational individual behavioural levels, targeting mainly employees, followed customers. reasons arising correspond attitudes, social influences egoistic motives. imposes risks financial losses due wasting resources as consequence employees' stress emotional exhaustion, demanding boundary-spanning activities. Further, it negatively impacts shopping behaviours, provoking online avoidance. Originality/value study fills gap regarding perceived describing explaining differing forms considering stores. It develops framework, identifies beyond current academic derives specific make phenomenon manageable retailers. originality lies synthesis three dimensions, consisting antecedents, FLEs.