Thrilled or Angry: Consumer Emotions on Black Friday

Abstract

The purposes of this research are to identify personal (prior experience and expectations) and situational (goal blockage) factors evoking consumer emotions on Black Friday (BF) and examine the role consumer emotions play in influencing consumer evaluation of BF. This study employs an online survey with the manipulation of goal blockage (Doorbuster, Stockout, and Wait in line conditions) on BF. A total of 339 people with prior BF experience participated in the online survey. The findings of this study provide insights into the BF shopping experience, especially the process by which personal and situational factors drive consumer BF experience. This study further shows how goal blockage, that can be managed by retailers, plays an important role in eliciting positive and negative emotion.