Young consumers and retail borrowing: Application of the theory of planned behavior

Retail borrowing entails customers violating retailers’ return policies by purchasing goods with the intention of using and then returning them. Our research purpose was to investigate consumer motivations that may underlie their attitude toward retail borrowing and to test the underlying mechanism of borrowing intention by utilizing the theory of planned behavior. Data were collected through an online survey of 276 female undergraduates. Past retail borrowing experience and the perception that retail borrowing had no negative impact on retailers were significantly related to participants’ attitude toward retail borrowing. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control contributed significantly to retail borrowing intention, with subjective norm exerting the greatest influence. In addition, two additional paths were tested that significantly improved the explanatory power of the theory of planned behavior and prediction of retail borrowing intention. Implications of these findings concerning retail borrowing behavior are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.