Analysis of Sales Promotion Effects on Household Purchase Behavior

The number <strong>of</strong> brands can be determined using several indicators. The number <strong>of</strong>
different brands or the number <strong>of</strong> different SKU’s can be used, both based on retail or on
consumer data. We investigate the effects <strong>of</strong> sales promotions on brand switching at the
SKU level. We therefore decided to use the SKU level instead <strong>of</strong> the brand level indicator.
Furthermore, based on the information obtained from GfK, we decide to use the number <strong>of</strong>
different SKU’s purchased by the households instead <strong>of</strong> the number <strong>of</strong> different SKU’s
existing. The list <strong>of</strong> existing SKU’s contained about 600 different pasta products. But, a lot
<strong>of</strong> these products are very unfamiliar.
The impulse rating is derived based on a subjective personal assessment in
combination with the article from Narasimhan et al. (1996). These authors used consumer
attitude scales to assess the degree <strong>of</strong> impulse buying for several categories. Candies and
potato chips were evaluated as being very impulse sensitive categories. C<strong>of</strong>fee products are
neither high on impulse nor low on impulse. Pasta, fruit juice and s<strong>of</strong>t drinks were not
included in their study. Narasimhan et al. (1996) used two measurement items: (1) I <strong>of</strong>ten
buy this product on a whim when I pass it in the store, and (2) I typically like to buy this
product when the urge strikes me. When we (subjectively) try to derive the degree <strong>of</strong>
impulse for the three remaining categories, we believe that s<strong>of</strong>t drinks and fruit juice are <strong>of</strong>
the same impulse degree as c<strong>of</strong>fee whereas pasta is expected to be less impulse driven.
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