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The referral backfire effect: The identity-threatening nature of referral failure

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  • Claus, Bart
  • Geyskens, Kelly
  • Millet, Kobe
  • Dewitte, Siegfried

Abstract

The present paper shows that when a person has the experience of giving advice but that advice is not acted upon, there is a reduced openness to external information. We call this the “referral backfire effect”. We argue that this referral backfire effect is due to the identity threatening nature of referral failure: the referral backfire effect is attenuated (1) when the sender perceives oneself as having low expertise in the particular domain of referral and (2) upon self-affirmation. Accordingly, implicit egotism is increased after referral failure, reflecting the need to bolster the self against threat. Because referral behavior is considered to be an important predictor of business success, we discuss the implications of our findings for both theory and practice and sketch future research opportunities.

Suggested Citation

  • Claus, Bart & Geyskens, Kelly & Millet, Kobe & Dewitte, Siegfried, 2012. "The referral backfire effect: The identity-threatening nature of referral failure," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 370-379.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ijrema:v:29:y:2012:i:4:p:370-379
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.06.004
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    Cited by:

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    2. Park, YeJin & Nault, Kelly & Kuwabara, Ko, 2024. "When brokers don’t broker: Mitigating referral aversion in third-party help exchange," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    3. Meyners, Jannik & Barrot, Christian & Becker, Jan U. & Bodapati, Anand V., 2017. "Reward-scrounging in customer referral programs," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 382-398.
    4. Sander F. M. Beckers & Jenny Doorn & Peter C. Verhoef, 2018. "Good, better, engaged? The effect of company-initiated customer engagement behavior on shareholder value," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 366-383, May.
    5. Holmqvist, Jonas & Van Vaerenbergh, Yves & Lunardo, Renaud & Dahlén, Micael, 2019. "The Language Backfire Effect: How Frontline Employees Decrease Customer Satisfaction through Language Use," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 115-129.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Word of mouth; Referral failure; Identity threat; Social influence; Self-bolstering;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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