Previous studies of in-store decision making have assumed that motivations for unplanned purchases are homogeneous throughout a shopping trip. In response to this assumption, the authors develop a conceptual framework to explain how consumers’ internal (i.e., intrinsic) and external (i.e., extrinsic) motivations for unplanned purchases actually vary during a shopping trip. Two field studies and five online experiments provide evidence that the personality trait of buying impulsivity predicts differences in whether a shopper initially focuses on internal motivations (e.g., “because I love it”) or external motivations (e.g., “because it is on sale”) for unplanned purchases at the beginning of a shopping trip and, consistent with a mechanism of motivation balancing, that motivations for unplanned purchases change as a shopper satisfies their initial motivations. The studies also demonstrate how the level of buying impulsivity influences the effectiveness of point-of-purchase messages at stimulating unplanned purchases and consumers’ relative spending on unplanned purchases. Overall, these findings address conflicting results in previous shopping studies, advance the literature streams on consumer motivation and sequential choice, and contribute insights to enhance shopper-marketing programs.

Companies increasingly employ cause-related marketing to enhance customer goodwill and improve their image. However, because these efforts have major implications for pricing strategy and firm profitability, understanding the relationship between the company's donation amount and customers’ willingness to pay is important. In particular, little is known about the moderating effects that influence this relationship or their underlying mechanisms. Study 1 confirms that two types of customer predispositions moderate the link between donation amount and willingness to pay: donation-related and cause-related predispositions. Three additional studies focus on the negative moderating effect of company–cause fit and provide insights into the underlying moderation process. Specifically, the motives customers attribute to the company mediate the moderating impact of fit on the donation amount–WTP link (Study 2), which occurs particularly in cases of utilitarian (Study 3) and privately consumed products (Study 4).

Grocery retailers have been informed that, to remain competitive, they must reduce the number of stockkeeping units (SKUs) offered, in line with consumer demand, or, in other words, adopt “Efficient Assortment.” Retailers have resisted this principle on the basis of a fear that eliminating items would lower consumer assortment perceptions and decrease the likelihood of store choice. In two studies, the authors examine how consumers form assortment perceptions in the face of SKU reduction with a particular emphasis on two heuristic cues: the availability of a favorite product and the amount of shelf space devoted to the category. Results indicate that retailers might be able to make substantive reductions in the number of items carried without negatively affecting assortment perceptions and store choice, as long as only low-preference items are eliminated and category space is held constant. Thus, the potential risk inherent in item reduction might be more limited than initially thought. The authors then discuss the implications of these findings for retailers, as well as additional measurement considerations.

Susan M. Broniarczyk, Wayne D. Hoyer, Leigh McAlister, Consumers' Perceptions of the Assortment Offered in a Grocery Category: The Impact of Item Reduction, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 35, No. 2 (May, 1998), pp. 166-176

An understanding of how to manage relationships with customers effectively has become an important topic for both academicians and practitioners in recent years. However, the existing academic literature and the practical applications of customer relationship management (CRM) strategies do not provide a clear indication of what specifically constitutes CRM processes. In this study, the authors (1) conceptualize a construct of the CRM process and its dimensions, (2) operationalize and validate the construct, and (3) empirically investigate the organizational performance consequences of implementing CRM processes. Their research questions are addressed in two cross-sectional studies across four different industries and three countries. The first key outcome is a theoretically sound CRM process measure that outlines three key stages: initiation, maintenance, and termination. The second key result is that the implementation of CRM processes has a moderately positive association with both perceptual and objective company performance.

The authors address two key issues that have received inadequate attention in the choice behavior literature on variety seeking. First, they explicitly separate true variety-seeking behavior (i.e., intrinsically motivated) from derived varied behavior (i.e., extrinsically motivated). Second, they hypothesize variety-seeking behavior to be a function of the individual difference characteristic of need for variety and product category–level characteristics that interact to determine the situations in which variety seeking is more likely to occur relative to repeat purchasing and derived varied behavior. The authors test their hypotheses in a field study of Dutch consumers, which assesses both the intensity of brand switching and the underlying motives for their switching behavior. Results support the importance of isolating variety switches from derived switches and of considering product category–level factors as an explanation for the occurrence of variety-seeking behavior.