Author(s): Ragu Prasadh Rajendran, Joe Arun
Ever-increasing amounts of information in the marketplace confuse consumers??? minds. Consumer confusion has become a problem for consumers and marketers. The purpose of this study is to enhance the understanding of the effect of the three dimensions of consumer confusion proneness namely similarity confusion, overload confusion, and ambiguity confusion on intention to recommend. Grounded on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion, the authors consider the role of three discrete emotions namely anger, joy, and awe on the relationship between consumer confusion and intention to recommend. The three discrete emotions play the role of moderators in this study. The hypotheses framed in this study suggest that marketing managers should induce as many positive emotions as possible to reduce the negative effect of the dimensions of consumer confusion on intention to recommend. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.