The Influence of Purchase Quantity and Display Format on Consumer Preference for Variety

Abstract

We propose that what consumers buy can be systematically influenced by how much they buy. We hypothesize that, as the number of items purchased in a category on a shopping occasion increases, a consumer is more likely to select product variants (e.g., yogurt flavors) that s/he does not usually purchase. We used yogurt scanner data to support this hypothesis. This study also revealed that consumers were more likely to select their regular brands when purchasing more containers of yogurt on a given occasion. A laboratory experiment showed that this reflects the combined impact of purchase quantity and product-display format (i.e., the by-brand display of yogurt in supermarkets) on consumer choice.