Consumer disillusionment with services : unveiling disillusioned customers' evaluations at the pre-purchase stage of service consumption

This research investigates disillusioned consumers’ interactions in the pre-purchase phase of the three-stage model of services consumption. The model encompasses simultaneous evaluations and it covers a vast range of service characteristics and their effects on the decision-making process, from emotional triggering to cognitive systems on the part of the consumer. The results show that disillusioned consumers respond positively to ads featuring strong verifiable integrity cues, and such evaluations are critical during the services’ pre-purchase stage. Moreover, the findings suggest that services’ purchase intentions are mediated by how involved disillusioned consumers are with the advertisement and by their persuasion knowledge.