Brand betrayal, post-purchase regret, and consumer responses to hedonic versus utilitarian products: The moderating role of betrayal discovery mode

•Brand betrayal leads to post-purchase regret.•Mode of discovering betrayal moderates between brand betrayal and post-purchase regret.•Post-purchase regret creates brand avoidance, Vindictive NWoM, and vindictive complaining.•Brand betrayal, post-purchase regret, and consumers’ negative responses differ for hedonic vs. utilitarian brand products. Drawing on regret theory and the product-type literature, it is argued that emotions elicited during hedonic product consumption reduce the negative consequences of regret and brand betrayal, by amplifying consumers’ cognitive regret-regulation and attenuating behavioral regret-coping. An empirical survey of 807 participants who faced post-purchase regret as a result of brand betrayal supports the stronger (vs. weaker) emotional and behavioral effects of utilitarian (vs. hedonic) products. The findings reveal that brand betrayal for utilitarian (vs. hedonic) products leads to stronger (vs. weaker) feelings of regret. Further, the discovery of betrayal from others (vs. personal experience) intensifies the effect of brand betrayal, which is stronger for utilitarian (vs. hedonic) products. Moreover, consumers exhibit a higher intensity of brand avoidance, vindictive negative word-of-mouth, and vindictive complaining with utilitarian (vs. hedonic) products. The findings enrich regret theory and the product-type literature and provide managerial guidance for effective brand strategy formulation in brand transgressions.