Marketplace power and choice framing: How and when CSR surcharges generate consumer anger

Companies have launched various consumer-facing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, many focused on external beneficiaries (e.g., charitable organizations). Recently, some companies have initiated programs benefiting internal stakeholders (employees). One such program is an employee benefit surcharge – an added fee to cover employee benefits. The current research examines how and when choice framing interacts with marketplace power to influence consumer response toward the surcharge. Five experimental studies reveal that an opt-out (default) choice frame paired with a dominant source enhances consumer anger, leading to lower message support. Furthermore, a critical moderating factor emerges—as issue importance increases, anger increases. This research contributes to marketing scholarship by (a) deepening our understanding of the emotions experienced with choice framing, (b) identifying a critical interaction between choice framing and marketplace power, and (c) uncovering a consistent individual-level factor contributing to anger. These findings show how consumer anger arises with a popular CSR initiative.