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Consumer vulnerability to scams, swindles, and fraud: A new theory of visceral influences on persuasion
Author(s) -
Langenderfer Jeff,
Shimp Terence A.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.1029
Subject(s) - persuasion , vulnerability (computing) , interpersonal communication , psychology , control (management) , social psychology , disadvantage , the internet , interpersonal influence , craft , reputation , advertising , internet privacy , sociology , business , economics , law , computer security , political science , social science , geography , management , archaeology , world wide web , computer science
Scams exact a huge toll on consumers and society at large, with annual costs in the United States alone exceeding $100 billion. The global proliferation of the Internet has enabled con artists to export their craft to a rapidly expanding market and reach previously untapped consumers. In spite of the prevalence of scams around the world, there has been virtually no academic attention devoted to understanding the factors that might account for why individuals differ in their scamming vulnerability. Building on the background of elder consumer disadvantage and informed by the authors' own survey of expert opinion, this article presents a tentative theory of scamming vulnerability. The proposed theory incorporates the effects of visceral influences on consumer response to scam offers and hypothesizes a role for various moderating factors such as self‐control, gullibility, susceptibility to interpersonal influence, and scam knowledge. Theoretical propositions are provided for future empirical investigation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.