Understanding Consumer Reactions to Assortment Unavailability

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SSI (H1). We expect that the brand equity level of the delisted brand will relate positively to CI because we assume that consumers are more committed to high-equity than to low-equity brands. A second brand characteristic is the type of delisted brand, for which we distinguish between store and manufacturer brands (Dhar and Hoch 1997). In contrast with manufacturer brands, store brands are distributed only in a particular retail chain, which means that if a store brand is delisted, consumers cannot switch to a competing store to obtain the same store brand. Several researchers also have suggested that store brands are associated with higher store loyalty (Corstjens and Lal 2000; Steenkamp and Dekimpe 1997), though other researchers argue that heavy users of store brands are loyal to store brands in general, not necessarily to the store brand of a particular retailer (Ailawadi and Harlam 2004). Because consensus does not exist for this point, we do not formulate a hypothesis about the relationship between the type of brand and SSI and CI. H6: The brand equity level of the delisted brand will be positively related to (a) SSI and (b) CI. 3.8.2 Product category–related antecedents The first product category variable is the type of product: utilitarian or hedonic (Batra and Ahtola 1991). Hedonic products, such as ice cream and salty snacks, provide more experiential consumption (i.e., fun, pleasure, excitement), whereas utilitarian products, such as detergents and toilet paper, provide primarily instrumental and functional benefits (Dhar and Wertenbroch 2000; Hirschman and Holbrook 1982). The different nature of utilitarian and hedonic products may affect the buying process, in that the buying process of utilitarian products may be driven mainly by rational buying motives, whereas that of hedonic products includes emotional motives as well. Because of these emotional buying motives, consumers may be more committed to brands in hedonic product categories than to those in utilitarian product categories. Therefore, we expect that consumers will demonstrate higher SSIs and CIs if a brand delisting occurs in a hedonic rather than a utilitarian product category. The second considered product category–related variable is the concentration level of brands in the product category. A highly concentrated product group is characterized by few dominant brands with high market shares, which may reflect significant perceived differences between these dominant brands and others. We measure brand concentration level as the squared market shares of each brand to encompass the combined market power of the available brands 75
(Ailawadi and Harlam 2004). Therefore, we expect that a high concentration level will relate positively to SSIs and CIs, because if consumers do not consider other brands good alternatives, they will either visit another store or complain. The third product-related variable we study is the number of brands in the product category. If this number is greater, it should be easier for consumers to find an acceptable alternative in the case of a brand delisting. However, a higher number of brands in a category also may signal a segmented market in terms of consumer preferences (Narasimhan, Neslin, and Sen 1996) because retailers offer many brands when they assume large variety in consumer needs for a category (Hoch, Bradlow, and Wansink 1999). In this case, because each brand satisfies a specific need, there are no suitable alternatives in the assortment. In summary, because we find opposing arguments for the effect of the number of brands on SSI and CI, we do not put forward a directional hypothesis for this effect. H7: The type of product will be positively related to (a) SSI and (b) CI. H8: The concentration level of brands in the product category will be positively related to (a) SSI and (b) CI. 3.8.3 Retail assortment–related antecedents The third group of antecedents we distinguish relates to the product category assortment offered by the retailer. As in Study 1, we consider assortment size, but in Study 2, we measure it as the number of brands offered by the retailer in a certain category compared with the number of brands offered in the same category by other participating retailers. In line with Study 1, we hypothesize that assortment size negatively relates to SSI, and we also expect that it is negatively related to CI. When faced with a smaller assortment, which makes it more difficult to find a suitable alternative, consumers are more likely to complain. We also consider assortment structure. In line with Study 1, we expect that assortments with a high proportion of high-equity brands will have lower SSI; we use similar reasoning to hypothesize that consumers will be less likely to complain. H9: The assortment size will be negatively related to (a) SSI and (b) CI. H10: The assortment structure will be negatively related to (a) SSI and (b) CI. 76
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LAURENS SLOOT Understanding Consume
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UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER REACTIONS TO
Page 6 and 7:
PREFACE (IN DUTCH) Begin 2001 schre
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface (in Dutch
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3.7 Study 2 74 3.8 Hypotheses 74 3.
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIE
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Most supply chain-oriented reductio
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400 square meters) are disappearing
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more. However, Aldi is known to be
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antecedents, such as the brand equi
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of assortment reduction responses a
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assortment benefits and assortment
Page 26 and 27: 2.1 Introduction Out-of-stock (OOS)
Page 28 and 29: other explanatory studies, we study
Page 30 and 31: Studies that apply exploratory desi
Page 32 and 33: Table 2.2: Methodological overview
Page 34 and 35: Situation-related variables. Situat
Page 36 and 37: As noted, consumers generally prefe
Page 38 and 39: 2.3.3 The interaction of hedonic le
Page 40 and 41: For example, supermarkets are usual
Page 42 and 43: were selected for further analyses.
Page 44 and 45: example, a key utilitarian benefit
Page 46 and 47: The mathematical formulation of the
Page 48 and 49: Table 2.6: Correlation matrix depen
Page 50 and 51: correlation between the hedonic lev
Page 52 and 53: 2.6 Discussion In this study, we in
Page 54 and 55: Following the literature on promoti
Page 56 and 57: consider this finding when they att
Page 58 and 59: Appendix 2A: Overview and definitio
Page 60 and 61: CHAPTER 3 UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT
Page 62 and 63: the Dutch food retailer Edah delist
Page 64 and 65: FMI (1993) conducts natural experim
Page 66 and 67: customers no longer or less frequen
Page 68 and 69: extent, comparable to the tendency
Page 70 and 71: Figure 3.1: Graphical display of as
Page 72 and 73: consumers evaluate assortments that
Page 74 and 75: Figure 3.3: Interaction effect of a
Page 78 and 79: 3.8.4 Store-related antecedents Fin
Page 80 and 81: among the 10 specified product grou
Page 82 and 83: Retail assortment-related anteceden
Page 84 and 85: Table 3.4: Average, standard deviat
Page 86 and 87: 3.10.2 Store switching intentions W
Page 88 and 89: effects indicated in Study 1 (β =
Page 90 and 91: 3.12 Managerial implications Retail
Page 92 and 93: Appendix 3A: Overview and definitio
Page 94 and 95: 4.1 Introduction Since the early 19
Page 96 and 97: changes in assortment perceptions (
Page 98 and 99: Negative sales effects may occur be
Page 100 and 101: therefore might question the existe
Page 102 and 103: Table 4.2: Overview of separate ana
Page 104 and 105: analogously. The resulting complete
Page 106 and 107: changes in the price level do not i
Page 108 and 109: Table 4.4: Estimated parameters for
Page 110 and 111: Table 4.5: Estimated parameters for
Page 112 and 113: infrequently in the sample stores a
Page 114 and 115: Measurement. Following Hoch, Bradlo
Page 116 and 117: 4.7 Discussion In this collaborativ
Page 118 and 119: into consequences at the customer l
Page 120 and 121: eduction occurs, and the type of st
Page 122 and 123: Manufacturers in hedonic product gr
Page 124 and 125: 2. When retailers set priorities fo
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References Aaker, David A. (1991),
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Broniarczyk, Susan M. and Wayne D.
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Franses, Philip Hans and Richard Pa
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Narasimhan, Chakravartthi, Scott A.
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Van Trijp, Hans C.M., Wayne D. Hoye
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de rol van het assortiment bij het
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die het out-of-stock niveau binnen
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Campbell, R.A.J., Rethinking Risk i
Page 142 and 143:
Langen, P.W. de, The Performance of
Page 144 and 145:
Slager, A.M.H., Banking across Bord
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