Consumer misbehaviour: an exploratory study of shopliftin

Although customer theft is traditionally researched from a criminological or psychological perspective, this paper investigates shoplifting as consumer behaviour, demonstrating that well-defined models of normal consumer behaviour can be applied to aberrant behaviour such as shop theft. Empirical research is used to show how adults and teenagers form belief systems that amount to rational intentions in the decision to shoplift. The theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) was used as the basis for two self-report surveys which investigated the interaction between consumers' attitudes and beliefs about shoplifting and their perceptions of retail security. The first survey utilised a sample of shoppers from the South East Midlands; the second a sample of school students from the same area (861 respondents in total, 109 respondents admitting to shoplifting in the previous year). Both studies indicate that the decision to shoplift is influenced by pro-shoplifting attitudes, social factors, opportunities for shoplifting and perceptions of low risks of apprehension. This implies that the deterrent messages we use must be reassessed. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.