Subhash Jha, Sujay Dutta and Ahmet Koksal
This study aims to examine whether adding a quantity scarcity message to a monetary discount helps to improve consumers’ offer-related perceptions and intentions, and how the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether adding a quantity scarcity message to a monetary discount helps to improve consumers’ offer-related perceptions and intentions, and how the effectiveness of that message compares with adding time restriction to the offer.
Design/methodology/approach
Two experiments, where participants evaluated retail ads and responded to relevant measures, were conducted in two country markets.
Findings
Adding either a quantity scarcity message or time restriction to a monetary discount increases the potency of a retail offer. Further, when an offer ad emphasizes product and price-related cues in a balanced manner, time restriction results in more favorable consumer perceptions than scarcity. However, this difference in the messages’ efficacy disappears when the offer strongly emphasizes price-related cues.
Research limitations/implications
The US market sample is more homogeneous than the Indian one. Discounts were presented in terms of advertised reference prices; further research with other discount formats is desirable.
Practical implications
Understanding the relative efficacy of quantity scarcity message and time restriction in discounted retail offers can give managers flexibility in the use of these tools.
Originality/value
This paper addresses scholars’ call for theory-grounded research that provides guidance to retailers on the use of sales promotional tools.
Details
Keywords
Dipayan (Dip) Biswas, Sujay Dutta and Abhijit (Abe) Biswas
The purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of multiple signals. Specifically, the paper investigates how the individual strength of a marketplace signal varies as a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of multiple signals. Specifically, the paper investigates how the individual strength of a marketplace signal varies as a function of whether consumers are exposed to that signal alone or in combination with another signal.
Design/methodology/approach
The research uses experimental designs to empirically address the research questions. Hypotheses are formulated primarily based on signaling theory and these hypotheses are tested with laboratory experiments using real consumers.
Findings
The key finding is that a signal's stand‐alone credibility largely determines whether its individual strength would be diluted or augmented by the coexistence of another signal. Further, when signals with different stand‐alone strengths coexist, the individual strength of the weaker signal is higher than when that signal is present alone. These effects are observed in brick‐and‐mortar and online shopping media.
Originality/value
Past research reports mixed findings about whether the individual strength of a signal is diluted (dilution effect) or augmented (augmentation effect) by the presence of another signal. This research attempts to resolve this issue, for the first time, by demonstrating that whether dilution effect or augmentation effect occurs depends on the stand‐alone credibility of the individual signals in a mix.
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Ashutosh Dixit, Kenneth D. Hall and Sujay Dutta
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of price attribute framing and factors such as urgency and perceived price fairness on customer willingness to pay (WTP…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of price attribute framing and factors such as urgency and perceived price fairness on customer willingness to pay (WTP) in automated retail settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted two sets of quasi-experimental scenarios surrounding vending-machine purchase decisions. The first set was analyzed with MANOVA, the second set with choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis.
Findings
When prices are framed positively (as a discount), customer WTP is higher at high published price levels than it is for unframed or negatively framed prices. The effect on WTP holds whether the reference price range is broad (few large increments) or narrow (numerous small increments). In the CBC scenarios, immediate availability of the product was most influential on choice, followed by price and brand effects. These findings held under conditions invoking both urgency and price fairness. Providing an explanation for higher prices increases perceived price fairness.
Research limitations/implications
Further study might assess the presence or absence of interaction effects in the conjoint scenarios.
Practical implications
Managers should consider transparency in dynamic pricing, particularly when the price change is outside the control of the firm. The conjoint scenario results also offer evidence that dynamic pricing will not impact other marketing-mix decisions for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) dramatically (availability at point of purchase and presence in the consumer consideration set remain strong influences on choice).
Social implications
Understanding these effects on WTP could help managers manage perceptions of unfairness and optimize WTP.
Originality/value
A theoretical contribution from this study is that the immediate loss/gain consideration under theories of decision making under uncertainty outweigh considerations such as scarcity urgency or perceived unfairness. Use of conjoint analysis in WTP research, study of dynamic pricing in FMCG setting.
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Seth Ketron, Rodney Runyan and M. Theodore Farris II
The current work reviews all retailing articles published in four prominent retailing journals – Journal of Retailing, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, International…
Abstract
Purpose
The current work reviews all retailing articles published in four prominent retailing journals – Journal of Retailing, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, and International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research – in the 2009-2015 period, picking up where Runyan and Hyun (2009) left off. The purpose of this paper is to identify leading authors and institutions in retailing research based on overall impact.
Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis/literature review/descriptive research.
Findings
In total, 1,392 articles were published during this time period, and through a procedure of weights and adjustments for author count, journal impact, journal quality, and journal publishing opportunity, the findings reveal that research collaboration is highly prevalent, as evidenced by the high number of multi-authored papers and cross-university/international partnerships. Additionally, some authors and institutions remain influential, while others have emerged as highly influential in the last seven years. This shows the dynamic nature of the field and the need to remain active in quality publishing.
Research limitations/implications
Scholars must understand that several factors influence impact judgments, which cannot be assessed using raw counts alone. Journal quality, impact, and publishing opportunity as well as author counts are important elements to consider.
Originality/value
These reviews are vital to the field in that they provide status updates on scholarship, so these reviews should be done periodically. Additionally, the findings in this paper provide a more holistic understanding of research impact and permit better assessment for scholars and administrators.