Guilt in Marketing Research: An Elicitation–Consumption Perspective and Research Agenda

Guilt regulates many consumption processes and, consequently, marketers frequently use appeals based on guilt to influence consumers' behaviour. Owing to the multidisciplinary interest in this emotion, however, the literature is diverse and fragmented. The effectiveness of guilt appeals is contested, and some authors suggest that the use of this emotion in marketing might be unethical. Furthermore, research to date has not explored the potential relationships between the experience of guilt in consumption and the elicitation of this emotion through marketing appeals. This paper analyses existing research on guilt in marketing, developing four specific contributions based on the evidence reviewed. First, it shows under what circumstances feelings of guilt support consumer self‐regulation processes. Second, it outlines evidence‐based managerial recommendations on how to produce effective guilt appeals and avoid the potentially unethical consequences of marketing through this emotion. Third, it identifies a gap in existing theorizing and presents an elicitation–consumption perspective of guilt in marketing as a framework that complements current approaches to this research topic. Fourth, it develops an agenda for future research and suggests eleven research hypotheses for the advancement of this field. Through the analysis of research produced within different disciplinary perspectives, this study develops a necessary foundation for future work on the role of guilt in marketing processes.