Analysis of Sales Promotion Effects on Household Purchase Behavior

enacting-on-impulse hypothesis and not supporting for example economic theory. Another
very interesting findings is that intrinsic variety seeking and promotion response were not
related (H10). The relationship between intrinsic variety seeking and promotion response
(extrinsic variety seeking) has been the center <strong>of</strong> quite some debate, as discussed in Section
3.2.8. Most prior research stated or assumed that intrinsic variety seeking and promotion
response should be positively related. Similarly to Van Trijp et al. (1996) we found that
intrinsic and extrinsic variety seeking are not related. So the ‘real’ (intrinsic) variety
seekers are not more easily persuaded by sales promotions to try a different brand. Even
when the model corrects for age, education, and several more possible influencing factors,
intrinsic and extrinsic variety seeking are not correlated.
As mentioned before, out <strong>of</strong> the 10 hypotheses tested for all promotion types at
the same time, 4 were accepted whereas 6 were not. Of these hypotheses not supported by
empirical findings, the relationship between employment situation <strong>of</strong> the shopping
responsible person and promotion response is the most striking one (H8). Households in
which this person has a paid job turn out to be the most responsive towards both in-store
and out-<strong>of</strong>-store promotions. Possibly the time-saving element <strong>of</strong> in-store promotions is
important in combination with the financial freedom to let promotions drive the purchases.
But the time-investment element <strong>of</strong> out-<strong>of</strong>-store promotions does not seem to inhibit
promotion response for households in which the shopping responsible person has a paid
job. Possibly these households are more interested in money-saving measures in general.
Two hypotheses (H4, H7) are rejected for sales promotions in general, but
accepted when distinguishing between in-store and out-<strong>of</strong>-store promotions. In-store versus
out-<strong>of</strong>-store promotions seem to affect different consumers and have different effects.
Distinguishing between these two different forms <strong>of</strong> sales promotions is therefore <strong>of</strong> great
interest when analyzing the effects <strong>of</strong> sales promotions.
Three hypotheses (H5, H6, and H11) were rejected for sales promotions in general,
but also when distinguishing between in-store and out-<strong>of</strong>-store promotions. The non-linear
relationship incorporated between age and promotion response was not found (H5). Older
people were found to be more promotion responsive, both in-store as well as out-<strong>of</strong>-store.
Education was not found to be related with promotion response, both at the general level,
and when distinguishing between in-store and out-<strong>of</strong>-store promotions. The negative
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