Caging the guerrilla consumer

Abstract

Incidents of dissatisfied consumers whose actions go beyond normative behavior and into the realm of counterproductive, economically harmful, and even illegal behaviors are gaining increased attention from researchers as well as from the popular and social media. The c research introduces the term “guerrilla consumer behavior” to describe consumer actions against vendors in response to a suboptimal outcome. Guerrilla consumers use whatever resources they have available to them, including unconventional or non-traditional responses, to express their displeasure with a firm. Consumer guerrilla behavior exacts a toll on a company, in terms of time, money, and reputation. The options available for firms that are affected by such behavior are few, and the decision to employ legal recourse against guerrilla consumers remains paradoxical. This study will present examples of guerrilla consumer behavior and examine plaintiff companies’ legal recourse to such misbehavior in Illinois, which include allegation of defamation, commercial disparagement, or intentional interference with prospective economic advantage in a lawsuit. The current research will also discuss those instances in which an injunction may be the appropriate legal remedy. The question to be explored is whether remedies to guerrilla consumer behavior, while appropriate in the legal sense, are long-term best interests of the company.