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Guilt appeals are increasingly being used in road safety campaigns, despite recent research that has raised doubts about their effectiveness and the potential for triggering defensive responses. Building on the extended parallel process model, this study aims to add to this growing body of research by evaluating whether combining a hope message with guilt appeals can solve this problem.

An online experiment with a 2 (Appeal type: Guilt vs Guilt+hope) × 2 (Language intensity: Low vs High) between-subjects design was conducted. A total of 399 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk were randomized to view one of the four advertisements discouraging texting while driving (TWD). Their affective responses, perceptions about the advertisements and intentions to not TWD were measured.

The results showed that compared to guilt-only appeals, guilt+hope appeals directly reduced defensive responses (i.e. perceived manipulative intent and anger) across varying levels of language intensity. In addition, guilt+hope appeals mitigated the negative impacts of manipulative intent on intended emotions and intentions to not TWD.

Findings of this study mark the first to support the idea that communicating hope within guilt appeals is a promising social marketing strategy to discourage TWD.

Amidst pressing environmental concerns, the service industry has increased its focus on sustainable production and consumption patterns. This study aims to explore whether Generation Z’s perceived value of plant-based food influences feelings of guilt as a result of consuming meat instead of plant-based food and/or pride from consuming plant-based foods, which might then lead to decisions to purchase alternative plant-based products at restaurants.

A survey was conducted measuring a range of variables and their relationships. The hypothesized model was tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling.

Results showed that perceived social value significantly influenced guilt and pride with perceived emotional value only influencing pride. Both guilt and pride significantly influenced the decision to switch eating patterns from conventional meat to plant-based protein at restaurants. And, finally, environmental concern significantly moderated the effect of emotional value on guilt.

To achieve sustainable goals, food producers should promote plant-based menu items by increasing the awareness of social approval through marketing communications.

This study bridges a gap in the literature by investigating how consumers’ perceived value affects their anticipated emotional feelings of guilt and pride leading to the switch from meat-based to plant-based diets at restaurants.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically establish the boundary conditions of the guilt mitigation process that consumers resort to in justifying consumption under contextual ambiguity, with respect to consumers' discomfit with ambiguity. While well observed, the process of guilt mitigation is less articulated with respect to contextually relevant consumers’ personality trait(s) (such as, discomfort with ambiguity) that may affect decision-making idiosyncratically. This gap is addressed herewith.

Three experiments were conducted across two studies to establish the boundary conditions of guilt mitigation in the specific context of transactions involving trade-ins. In doing so, consumers' direct price imputation or, indirectly, their relative preference for financially equivalent, but structurally distinct, price structures was measured. Guilt was induced among consumers by directly manipulating consumers' degree of attachment with their old product (the trade-in).

Results indicate that consumers resort to guilt mitigation in justifying consumption more extensively when they harbor higher levels of discomfort with ambiguity, not otherwise – the moderating effects of consumers' discomfort with ambiguity or the boundary condition under study.

Hypothetical buying scenarios, albeit constructed based on field information and subsequently tested for realism, were used to conduct the experiments, versus field experiments using real consumers. Further, the respondent pool comprised of Indian nationals only. These remain the primary limitations of this research.

The findings indicate that managers may be able to construe deals in a manner that promotes self-segmentation by consumers, especially when consumers harbor greater discomfort with ambiguity. This, in turn, implies reduction in consumer heterogeneity and a concomitant increase in marketing efficiency.

By considering consumers' discomfort with ambiguity in this research, the efficacy of the guilt mitigation process was established with respect to a contextually relevant individual difference factor. While the fundamentally constructive nature of guilt mitigation necessitates such considerations, this research gap, thus addressed, remained unaddressed hitherto.

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of sustainability communication on social media. More specifically, the effects of message appeal (sensual vs guilt) and message source (hotel vs social media influencer [SMI]) on perceived environmental corporate social responsibility and the intention to stay at the eco-friendly hotel were examined.

Three studies using the experimental design were carried out. Study 1 examined the relationship between message appeal (sensual vs guilt), perceived environmental social corporate responsibility and the intention to stay at the eco-friendly hotel when the hotel posts sustainability messages on social media. Study 2 replicated Study 1 findings when the SMI posts sustainability messages. Study 3 examined the moderating role of message source (hotel vs influencer) in the effects of message appeal (sensual vs guilt) on behavioral intentions.

Sustainability messages with the sensual (vs guilt) appeal are more persuasive when the eco-friendly hotel (vs SMI) posts it on social media. Furthermore, the traveler’s perception of the hotel’s environmental corporate social responsibility mediates this relationship.

This study extends the literature on sustainability communication by demonstrating the role of message source and message appeal in influencing the traveler’s perceptions and intentions toward eco-friendly hotels.

According to the study findings, eco-friendly hotels can motivate travelers to make pro-sustainable choices by accurately matching the message appeal with the message source in the sustainability communication on social media.

This study is one of the earliest studies that examine the congruency effect of message appeal and message source for sustainability communication on social media in the hospitality realm. The findings offer novel insights for eco-friendly hotels to develop effective sustainability communication on social media.

Drawing from the appraisal theory, this paper aims to examine the conditions under which abusive leaders experience guilt and suggests that guilt motivates leaders to help followers.

A scenario study with a sample of 285 hospitality supervisors was used to test the theoretical model. Path analyses were conducted to test the three-way-moderated mediation model.

Results show a three-way interaction among enacted abuse, managerial abuse and agreeableness on the guilt: leaders are more likely to experience guilt over their enacted abusive supervision when they do not perceive their direct manager as abusive and when they are agreeable. Moreover, guilt mediates the relationship between enacted abuse and a leader’s intention to help their followers.

This study shows that abusive supervisors pay an emotional cost for their enacted abuse (in terms of guilt).

Hospitality organization should assign non-abusive mentors to leaders, especially agreeable ones, to detect and reduce abusive supervision.

First, this study addressed the lack of research on the effect of abusive supervision on the abusers by studying the conditions under which abusive leaders experience guilt. Second, this study shows that because of guilt, abusive leaders have a higher intention to help their followers. It explains why abusive leaders can be helpful.

So far, few studies dealing with the determinants of pro‐environmental behavior have examined the impact of emotional variables. This research aims to extend previous work on the role of affective motivations underlying ecological behavior by exploring the influence of anticipated guilt on recycling.

A cluster analysis was conducted among 276 French interviewees based on their current recycling behavior, anticipated guilt, environmental concern, awareness of negative consequences and beliefs about facilitating conditions in their community of residence. In order to confirm assumptions related to the suggested typology, further quantitative tests were performed.

Three profiles were identified. Results suggest that environmental concern and awareness of the negative consequences associated with the increase of waste volume are not sufficient conditions to stimulate diligent recycling efforts. Anticipated guilt appears to influence behavior more directly and totally mediates the relationship between environmental concern and intention to recycle.

Implications of this research exclude countries where recycling is mandatory or represents a strongly internalized social norm.

This study holds important implications in terms of public authorities' intervention. The emergence of anticipated guilt as a key determinant of intention to recycle suggests that guilt appeals could be a relevant communication strategy in order to promote recycling.

This research provides new insights to understand the role of anticipated guilt on ecological behavior using a typology. A predictive model of intention to recycle was also proposed.

A self-regulatory framework to explore the positive effects of negative emotions on proactive outcomes for employees is discussed. The purpose of this paper is to examine how and when employee feedback can facilitate feelings of guilt and result in positive learning behaviors in the workplace.

The authors test the research model using data from field surveys based on a two-wave data collection from 176 employees. Participants completed two paper-based surveys with a time lag of one week.

The results demonstrate that the feelings of guilt work as a mediator in the association between feedback and employee learning. As a specific negative emotion, guilt has a significant and positive impact on employee learning in the workplace. The findings also demonstrate that transformational leadership can make employees aware of the gap between expectations and their performance. Transformational leaders motivate guilty employees to engage in learning activities through the promotion of regulatory focus.

This study contributes to the literature on emotions and employee learning in several ways. First, the study raises the association between feedback and employee learning through guilt in the workplace. Second, the study considers the boundaries for facilitating learning behaviors.

In general, Muslims consider Islamic consumption to be a religious obligation. Previous research, however, suggests that various socio-psychological factors may influence Islamic consumption. Failure to comprehend the true motivations for purchasing Islamic products may lead to marketing myopia. This research investigates the less explored motivational factors of religious compensatory consumption, namely religious hypocrisy, religious social control and religious guilt.

This research relied on an online questionnaire. Purposive sampling yielded a total of 238 Muslim respondents. The authors employed PLS-SEM analysis with the ADANCO software to test the hypotheses.

The results reveal the following: (1) Higher religious hypocrisy leads to higher religious social control. (2) Higher religious hypocrisy leads to higher religious guilt. (3) Higher religious social control leads to higher religious guilt. (4) Higher religious hypocrisy leads to higher religious compensatory consumption. (5) Higher religious social control leads to higher religious compensatory consumption. (6) Religious social control partially mediates the relationship between religious hypocrisy and religious compensatory consumption. (7) Higher religious guilt leads to higher religious compensatory consumption. (8) Religious guilt partially mediates the relationship between religious hypocrisy and religious compensatory consumption.

First, religious compensatory consumption in this research is limited to Muslim consumers. Future research may investigate compensatory consumption in different contexts, such as Judaism and Christianity, which have some common religious tenets. Second, compensatory consumption is a complex concept. The authors’ religious compensatory consumption scale only incorporated a few aspects of compensatory consumption. Future studies may retest the authors’ measurement scale for reliability. Lastly, the samples were dominated by the younger generation of Muslims (e.g. generation Z). Future studies may investigate older Muslim generations.

First, this research illustrates how religiosity, guilt and social control may contribute to Islamic compensatory consumption. Islamic business practitioners and retailers targeting Muslim consumers can benefit from this research by knowing that Islamic consumption may be driven by socio-psychological factors, such as religious hypocrisy and guilt. As a result, businesses targeting Muslim consumers can develop marketing strategies that incorporate these religious elements while also addressing their socio-psychological issues in order to promote Islamic products. Second, Islamic business practitioners and retailers may consider the social environments in which Muslims are raised. The authors’ findings show that religious social control has direct and indirect effects on Muslims' preferences for Islamic products as a form of compensatory strategy. Islamic business practitioners may design marketing programs that revolve around Muslim families and their Islamic values. It is in line with the previous studies that suggest the connections between religions, local cultures and buying behaviours (Ng et al., 2020; Batra et al., 2021). In some ways, Islamic products can be promoted to improve the well-being and cohesion of family members and Muslim society in general. In this research, the authors argue that businesses' failures to understand the socio-psychological motives of Islamic consumption may lead to marketing myopia.

As previously stated, religion (i.e. Islam) may be a source of well-being and a stable relationship among Muslims. Nevertheless, it may also become a source of negative emotions, such as guilt, because of one's inability to fulfil religious values, ideals or standards. According to the authors’ findings, Islamic products can be used to compensate for a perceived lack of religiosity. At the same time, these products may improve Muslims' well-being. The creations of products and services that revolve around Islamic values are expected to improve Muslims' economic conditions and strengthen their faith and love toward Islam in the globalized world. Moreover, Muslims, both as majority and minority groups, face increasing social pressures. On one hand there is the (in-group) pressure to uphold Islamic values and on the other hand there is the (out-group) pressure to preserve the local values and cultures. Indeed, living in the globalized world may require certain compromises. This research calls for various institutions and policymakers to work out solutions that enable all religious groups to work and live in harmony.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to study religious compensatory consumption quantitatively. This research operationalized variables previously discussed using a qualitative approach, namely religious hypocrisy, social control, guilt and compensatory consumption. The authors designed and adapted their measurement scales to fit this context, paving the way for future research in this field. Second, this research provides new empirical evidence by examining the relationships among less explored variables. For instance, this research has proven that several aspects of religiosity (e.g. hypocrisy, social control and guilt) may influence compensatory consumption in the Islamic context. This research also reveals the mediation roles of religious social control and religious guilt that were less explored in the previous studies. To the best of their knowledge, previous studies had not addressed social control as a predictor of compensatory consumption. Therefore, the theoretical model presented in this research and the empirical findings extend the theory of compensatory consumption. Third, Muslims are underrepresented in the compensatory consumption research; therefore, this research fills the population gap. Finally, this research focuses on Islamic compensatory behaviour as the future direction of Islamic marketing. Previous Islamic marketing research had not addressed the sensitive motives of Islamic consumption, which have now been highlighted in this research.

This paper aims to determine how consumers may regulate their guilt through rumination and emotional support and how such regulation affects their consumption. Compelling research indicates that consumption may sometimes induce guilt. Social–psychological literature suggests that a potential way for consumers to regulate their consumption-related guilt is to seek emotional support.

Two studies, which measure (Study 1) and manipulate (Study 2) guilt, investigate how guilt and rumination affect emotional support and subsequent consumption.

The results show that guilt and rumination interact and prompt individuals to seek emotional support. The valence (positive or negative) of feedback they receive affects and interacts with their guilt to affect their intention to consume the guilt-inducing product again. Shame is shown to mediate the effect of post-feedback guilt on consumption intentions.

The results extend previous research on guilt by emphasizing emotional support seeking as a specific way of coping in response to guilt feelings and shame as an outcome of guilt. Moreover, the present research shows that guilt can affect behavioural intentions, an effect that surprisingly has not been previously identified in literature.

For brands and retailers providing guilt-inducing products, the results suggest that providing emotional support – for instance through reinsurance messages – may have positive effects on consumer emotions and intentions.

Using two different methods, the research findings offer deeper understanding of how guilt is related to cognitions such as rumination, to emotions such as shame and to behavioural intentions.

This paper investigates why and when messages regarding unsustainable luxury products lead to negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) through a focus on the role of guilt, need to warn others and consumers' cultural orientation.

Three experiments test whether messages describing unsustainable versus sustainable luxury manufacturing processes elicit guilt and a need to warn others and whether and how the need to warn others affects consumers' NWOM depending on their cultural orientation.

Consumers experience guilt in response to messages emphasizing the unsustainable (vs sustainable) nature of luxury products. In turn, guilt triggers a need to warn other consumers, which leads to NWOM about the luxury company. Furthermore, the results suggest that two dimensions of Hofstede's model of national culture – namely individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity – moderate the effect of the need to warn others on NWOM.

Luxury managers should design appropriate strategies to cope with consumers' different reactions to information regarding luxury brands' unsustainability. Managers should be aware that the risk of NWOM diffusion may be higher in countries characterized by a collectivistic and feminine orientation rather than an individualistic and masculine orientation.

Consumer reaction to unsustainable luxury, especially across different cultural groups, is a neglected area of investigation. This work contributes to this novel area of research by investigating NWOM stemming from unsustainable luxury manufacturing practices in different cultural contexts.