Multipurpose shopping is a prominent and relevant feature of shopping behavior. However, no methodology is available to assess empirically how the demand for multipurpose shopping depends on retail agglomeration or, in general, the characteristics of retail supply, such as the numbers and types of stores in a shopping center or the number of categories in a supermarket. The authors propose a nested-logit model that captures retail agglomeration effects on consumer choice of shopping trip purpose (what to buy) and destination (where to buy). The authors estimate parameters representing trip purpose-adjustment and between-store attraction effects on shopping trip data collected from a sample of 1704 households in The Netherlands. Both effects are significant for each of the three categories for which the model is estimated. This is consistent with the idea of agglomeration effects. The findings suggest that agglomeration helps attract not only multipurpose but also single-purpose trips. A comparison of multi- and single-purpose trip model predictions shows that single-purpose models underpredict the number of trips to larger shopping centers.

The authors propose and illustrate an extension of the method of Hierarchical Information Integration (HII). HII allows one to handle large numbers of attributes in conjoint tasks by designing subexperiments that include subsets of attributes. It assumes that individuals can use general attributes or decision constructs to summarize their impressions of these subsets, which could be clusters of detailed, managerially relevant attributes. The proposed extension involves the design of sub-experiments that include attributes plus summary evaluations of remaining constructs. Advantages are that subexperiments can be analyzed separately but also jointly to estimate one overall preference or choice model; a more flexible and easy task is obtained; and one can test the assumed hierarchical decision structure. The authors illustrate the approach with an application that models consumer choice of shopping center. In this application, results partially support the hierarchical structure and predictive validity. Finally, the authors discuss implications for further research.

An analysis proposes and illustrates an extension of the method of Hierarchical Information Integration (HII). HII allows one to handle large numbers of attributes in conjoint tasks by designing subexperiments that include subsets of attributes. It assumes that individuals can use general attributes or decision constructs to summarize their impressions of these subsets, which could be clusters of detailed, managerially relevant attributes. The proposed extension involves the design of subexperiments that include attributes plus summary evaluations of reamining constructs. Advantages are that subexperiments can be analyzed separately but also jointly to estimate one overall preference or choice models, a more flexible and easy task is obtained, and one can test the assumed hierarchical decision structure. The analysis illustrates the approach with an appplication that models consumer choice of shopping center. In this application, results partially support the hierarchical structure and predictive validity. Finally, implications for further research are discussed.

Marketers can display their products horizontally or vertically in both online and offline settings. This display orientation has been shown to influence consumers’ judgments about individual products. The present research extends the literature by investigating the moderating impact of display orientation on the attraction effect, one of the most well-established context effects in choice. A total of 11 studies, including 7 preregistered experiments, document a novel finding that the attraction effect is stronger when choice alternatives are displayed horizontally rather than vertically. This moderating influence is replicated in both consequential choices and hypothetical scenarios and shown to generalize over diverse product categories. The authors explain this influence by proposing that a horizontal (vs. vertical) display increases the ease of comparing choice alternatives, leading consumers to notice the asymmetric dominance relationship among them more easily. Consistent with this mechanism, the authors find that the moderating influence of display orientation attenuates when individuals are guided to recognize the asymmetric dominance relationship or when their ability to compare vertically displayed products is momentarily enhanced. The present research thus demonstrates a significant effect of spatial orientation on the comparison and evaluation of alternatives. Theoretical and managerial implications of findings are discussed.