Machiavellianism: How consumers’ perceptions of corporate greed influence post-cosmetic surgery retaliation behavior

Abstract

The research focuses on Machiavellianism to examine how an individual’s perceived greed affects revenge behaviour following incidents in cosmetic surgery. A quantitative study was conducted with a sample of 617 customers from corporations providing cosmetic surgery services in Hanoi. The data were analysed using SPSS 27 and SmartPLS 4.0. The research demonstrates that individuals with Machiavellian tendencies tend to experience negative emotions when encountering cosmetic surgery incidents, and these negative emotions have a positive relationship with the desire for revenge. Additionally, perceived greed and anger rumination positively influence the relationship between customers - negative emotions and desire for revenge. The research contributes to the field of customer behavior by expanding the theory of negative responses following service incidents. As a result, policy implications are provided to enhance the quality of cosmetic surgery cosmetic services and optimize solutions for addressing issues when service incidents arise with customers who exhibit Machiavellian traits.