The Impact of a Complement-Based Assortment Organization on Purchases
Panagiotis Sarantopoulos, Aristeidis Theotokis, Katerina Pramatari, Anne L. Roggeveen
Journal of Marketing Research · 2019 · Volume 56 · Issue 3
Abstract
This article examines whether and why organizing product categories according to the consumption goal they serve (i.e., complement-based assortment organization) may increase purchases compared with organizing product categories according to their attributes or physical characteristics (i.e., substitute-based assortment organization). Across two field experiments, a virtual reality experiment, and a lab experiment, the authors show that a complement-based assortment organization, compared with a substitute-based assortment organization, leads to increased numbers of purchases and increased expenditures. Ease of visualization of the consumption process mediates the results. The impact of the complement-based organization on purchases is more pronounced for less involved consumers and for consumers with a less specific shopping goal. These findings have both theoretical and practical implications.
Keywords
assortment organization, complementarity, purchase behavior, retailing
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