A Model of Buyer Regret: Selected Prepurchase and Postpurchase Antecedents and Consequences for the Brand and the Channel

This research examines how two prepurchase stages of the buyer decision process-information search and alternative evaluation-and two postpurchase stages-evaluation of product and service attributes-influence buyer regret. The study extends prior consequences of regret to include purchase intentions toward both brand and the channel. Tested in a field sample of luxury automobile purchasers, results show that higher information search and alternative evaluation lead to more buyer regret; lower evaluations of service (but not product) attributes lead to more regret; and regret's consequences include reduced intentions to repurchase either the brand or from the dealership. Buyers who switch brands experience more regret than buyers who did not switch brands.