Coping strategies and corrective actions to address digital consumer vulnerability: a multistakeholder perspective

Abstract

In the digital environment, consumers are increasingly exposed to deceptive marketing practices that increase their vulnerability and create challenges for consumer protection. This study investigates the consumer coping strategies adopted in situations of digital deception and analyses how these interact with companies’ and public institutions’ corrective actions at different stages of the customer journey. A systematic literature review, conducted using the PRISMA protocol and the snowballing technique, led to the identification of 44 relevant articles. The analysis mapped the main coping strategies (e.g. disengagement) and corrective actions that companies (e.g. technological support) and institutions (e.g. regulatory support) could adopt during the customer journey. The results highlight both areas of alignment and significant asymmetries between consumer coping strategies and the corrective actions of other stakeholders. In particular, there is a prevalence of reactive interventions by companies and a concentration of institutional policies in the preventive phases, with less attention paid to managing vulnerability in the post-deception phase. These discrepancies contribute to amplifying consumers’ coping strategies and hindering the restoration of trust. Overall, the study contributes significantly to advancing the literature on consumer vulnerability in digital environments, highlighting the need for a multistakeholder approach in which companies and institutions operate in a coordinated, targeted and complementary manner throughout the entire customer journey. From a managerial perspective, the results highlight the importance of developing integrated and proactive protection systems that are capable not only of mitigating the consequences of digital deception, but also of preventing its occurrence and limiting the use of coping strategies.