| Abstract |
Research on the role of emotions in organizational decision making is escalating, yet the impact of emotions on organizational buying remains under-examined. Applying the feelings-as-information perspective, we examine the influence of purchasing agents' termination emotions (i.e., emotions associated with the termination of a supplier) on their perception of justice toward an existing win back offer, and their advocacy toward switching-back to this supplier. Additionally, we integrate regulatory focus theory to examine the boundary conditioning effect of a buyer's prevention focus. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative research from purchasing agents, this study provides insight into the positive effect of “felt-bad” termination emotions (i.e., guilt, embarrassment, regret, and sadness) and the negative effect of “felt-good” termination emotions (i.e., joy, hopefulness, and relief) on cognition (i.e., perception of justice in the win back offerings) and subsequent advocacy to switch-back. Additionally, buyer perceptions of justice in a win back offer are found to mediate the relationship between emotions and actions (i.e., advocacy to switch-back). Furthermore, a prevention focus orientation diminishes the influence of buyers' termination emotions on the perception of justice in the win back offer. Our results explicate purchasing agents' emotion-cognition-decision relationships in organizational purchasing. |
, Noel Gould 
, Mark Leach 
