This article investigates consumer reactions (punishing behavior) regarding corporate brands that engage in various types of transgressions (mild vs. severe) through a scenario-based experiment. The study adopts a 2 × 2 factorial design that examines the moderating role of self-referencing on the relationship between brand transgression severity and the punishing behavior of consumers. Before conducting the main study, the researchers carried out a pilot study to acquire insights about the severity levels of various brand transgressions as well as to determine the likelihood of individuals encountering them. The main study confirms that there is an interaction effect between self-referencing and transgression severity on consumer punishing behavior. More notably, this research highlights the fact that in cases of mild transgressions, having a point of self-reference in the transgression prompts individuals to punish the transgressor more harshly than in cases of severe transgressions. This finding may serve as a warning for corporate brands, demonstrating that they need to be careful about mild transgressions because even when they represent violations of minor rules, they can have deleterious effects on consumer–brand relationships.

中文翻译：

---

自我参照会加剧对企业品牌违规者的惩罚行为吗？

本文通过基于场景的实验调查了消费者对参与各种类型违规（轻度与重度）的企业品牌的反应（惩罚行为）。该研究采用 2 × 2 因子设计，检验自我参照对品牌违规严重程度与消费者惩罚行为之间关系的调节作用。在进行主要研究之前，研究人员进行了一项试点研究，以深入了解各种品牌违规的严重程度，并确定个人遇到这些违规行为的可能性。主要研究证实，自我参照和违规严重程度对消费者惩罚行为存在交互作用。更值得注意的是，这项研究强调了这样一个事实，即在轻度违规的情况下，在违法行为中具有自我参照点会促使个人比在严重违法行为的情况下更严厉地惩罚违法者。这一发现可以作为对企业品牌的警告，表明他们需要小心轻微的违规行为，因为即使他们违反了轻微的规则，它们也会对消费者与品牌的关系产生有害影响。