bs_bs_banner International Journal of Consumer Studies ISSN 1470-6423 Consumer cynicism: developing a scale to measure underlying attitudes influencing marketplace shaping and withdrawal behaviours Amanda E. Helm1, Julie Guidry Moulard2 and Marsha Richins3 1Division of Business, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA 70125, USA 2College of Business, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272, USA 3Department of Marketing, College of Business, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA Keywords Abstract Consumer activism, consumer rebellion, consumer cynicism, consumer skepticism, This article develops the construct of consumer cynicism, characterized by a perception of consumer alienation, consumer trust. a pervasive, systemic lack of integrity in the marketplace and investigates how cynical consumers behave in the marketplace. The construct was developed based on a qualitative Correspondence study and triangulated through developing a scale and investigating antecedents and Amanda E. Helm, Division of Business, Xavier consequential marketplace behaviours. The cynicism construct is uniquely suited to explain University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA the underlying psychological processes hinted at in practitioner perceptions of the growing 70125, USA. E-mail:
[email protected] mistrust and consumer research about rebellion behaviours, as well as to offer insight on consumers’ response to the increasingly sophisticated market. Previous research has doi: 10.1111/ijcs.12191 offered a glimpse of extreme rebellion behaviours such