The growing number of sales channels through which customers can make purchases has made it imperative for managers to understand how customers decide which channels to use. However, this presents a significant challenge because there is reason to believe the channel decision process evolves over the lifetime of the customer. The authors document the existence and nature of this phenomenon by analyzing the evolution of a customer's channel choice decision process from a trial stage to a posttrial stage. First, they analyze data for a book retailer and replicate their analysis using data from a durables and apparel retailer. Their results suggest that (1) customers’ decision processes do evolve, (2) a minority but sizeable segment changes decision processes within the observation period, and (3) customers who change do so from a decision process in which they are highly responsive to marketing to one in which they are less responsive. The authors illustrate and discuss the implications for both managers and researchers.

The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mandates explicit user opt-in consent for data access. It recommends transparency in opt-in requests about data collection, storage, and use, without specifying the format of these requests. Consequently, the GDPR gives firms flexibility in designing opt-in messages. This research uses theory, multiple datasets, and methods to investigate firms’ communication formats for opt-in requests, addressing three questions: (1) How do firms design their opt-in requests? (2) Does the chosen format affect consumer response? (3) What drives firms’ choices of formats? The analysis of 1,506 repermission emails from 1,396 firms post-GDPR shows that 26% use only persuasive cues to request data, while 24% blend persuasive and informative cues. Notably, businesses with an offline presence use more persuasive cues compared with purely digital entities. A field experiment rationalizes this behavior showing that informative cues alone did not improve opt-in; a mix of persuasive and informative cues proved more successful. Additionally, firms dependent on personal data use persuasive cues more often than firms concerned with reputational risks of GDPR noncompliance. This study offers pivotal insights for regulators, firms, and consumers, revealing variations in how different firms acquire consent and the impact of their strategies on user behavior.