Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
Spring 2025
Abstract
Amid the growing interest in proactive customer helpers, extant research offers surprisingly little guidance on where to find them. Of interest to this study are proactive helpers taking personal initiative in assisting other customers to avoid harmful brands. Guided by the attitude-behavior phenomenon, selected attitudes and behaviors were examined among 347 customers in the United States using survey research. Latent profile analysis aided in obtaining further clarification regarding the profile characteristics of customers who proactively assist other customers with their brand avoidance behaviors in an anti-consumption context. These profile characteristics are useful, as they provide strategic direction on where to find the proactive helpers in the marketplace. The study is further meaningful, as consumers can influence brands and responsible behaviors. Anti-consumption practices unleash this power into the market and proactive helpers could assist. The current research contributes to this conversation by providing guidance on finding proactive helpers.
Recommended Citation
van Tonder, E., and Fullerton, S. (2025). Demystifying proactive customer helpers: Where do we find them? 2025 Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings, 10. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/amtp-proceedings_2025/10
