Whose fault is it? Effects of relational self-views and outcome counterfactuals on self-serving attribution biases following brand policy changes

Many consumers view their relationships with brands as part of their identity and this affects how they react to a brand's behavior that negatively impacts them. In assigning responsibility for negative outcomes, individuals often demonstrate a self-serving bias by assigning more responsibility to their partner and less to themselves. In three studies, we demonstrate that this tendency is resisted among consumers holding a strong relational self-view. However, their self-serving bias emerges when the outcome represents a near-miss situation in which a more favorable counterfactual alternative outcome was highly possible. This change in attributions is associated with increased feelings of being betrayed and perceived unfairness by the brand even though its actions are identical in the near-miss and far-miss situations.