The role of the sense of entitlement for Russian consumers’ behavior

Abstract

This study aims to identify the sense of entitlement of Russian consumers’ behavior in customer loyalty programs context. It describes the consumer sense of entitlement concept and its application to consumer behavior research based on an extensive literature review. Consumer sense of entitlement refers to the extent to which a customer expects special treatment from the company. According to foreign research, consumer sense of entitlement as a personality trait remains stable over time and relatively invariant across other factors, and a situational response to the company’s actions affects consumer behavior including the personal style of interaction and their expectations. The paper includes an empirical study of the sense of entitlement of Russian consumers, who are representatives of generations Y and Z. The analysis was conducted on the data collected through a quantitative online survey on the consumer attitude and expectations of airline services. As a result of factor analysis and structural equation modeling, key components of consumer sense of entitlement such as demanding behavior and distinction have been revealed. Th e interrelation with loyalty and complaint behavior was identified for two groups of respondents, namely the members of customer loyalty programs and non-members. The authors revealed the positive impact of consumer sense of entitlement on voicing complaints for both groups of respondents and the positive influence of loyalty on the demanding behavior of respondents who do not participate in loyalty programs. The article represents an initialattempt to examine the Russian consumers’ sense of entitlement.