The impact of context and promotion on consumer responses and preferences in out-of-stock situations

Arbeitspapier

In general, consumer preferences depend on the context of a decision situation. This paper highlights the context-dependence of substitution behavior in out-of-stock (OOS) situations and provides evidence for the relevance of promotion as essential driver of customers' OOS reactions. We demonstrate both theoretically and empirically how OOS-induced preference shifts can be explained and predicted using context and phantom theory. In a series of experiments, we show that consumers substitute in accordance to a negative similarity effect, which is reduced for stock-outs of promoted low-involvement FCMGs. If a similar substitute is offered at a reduced price, the effect is enforced. For dissimilar substitutes, we show the contrary. The empirical findings further suggest an augmented probability of purchase postponement and a significant smaller chance of brand switching for stock-outs of promotional products. Furthermore, our study emphasizes outlet switching as a so far uninvestigated OOS reaction and discusses implications for retailers and manufacturers.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: SFB 649 Discussion Paper ; No. 2011-050

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Marketing ; Hypothesis Testing: General ; Estimation: General ; Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
• Subject: out-of-stock ; context effects ; phantoms ; promotion ; preference shifts ; Konsumentenverhalten ; Sortiment ; Verkaufsförderung ; Produktsubstitution ; Theorie ; Waschmittel ; Test ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Wiebach, Nicole ; Diels, Jana L.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Humboldt University of Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649 - Economic Risk
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2011

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/56673
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET