在零售业中各式各样的大小对消费者选择的吸引力【外文翻译】.doc

1、 外文翻译 原文 Assortment Size and Option Attractiveness in Consumer Choice Among Retailers Material Source： Journal of Marketing Research Author： Alesander Chernev and Ryan Hamilton Introduction An important decision that retailers make involves selecting the number of items constituting their assortment

2、s in each product category. This decision involves optimizing the benefits and costs of the assortment size for both buyers and sellers. Thus, from a retailers standpoint, smaller assortments are often considered more desirable for costrelated reasons, such as inventory, shelf space, and financing c

3、osts (Kurt Salmon Associates 1993; The Partnering Group 1998). In this context, several retailers have considered trimming their assortments to increase their profit margins. Despite the evident cost savings, this approach has faced resistance from retailers concerned that decreasing assortment size

4、 will have a negative impact on consumer attitudes toward the retailer ultimately leading to lower purchase probability (Broniarczyk, Hoyer, and McAlister1998). The increasing impact of assortment size on retailer costs raises the question of how assortment size influences buyers choice of a retaile

5、r. Thus, a retailer concerned with creating a cost-efficient assortment might want to know whether reducing the number of items in its assortment will lead to a decline in store attractiveness and lower the likelihood of consumers choosing the store. In the same vein, a retailer concerned with broad

6、ening its customer base might want to know whether increasing the assortment size will result in greater store preference. Despite the conceptual and practical importance of understanding the impact of assortment size on consumer choice among retailers, existing research does not offer a clear answe

7、r to this question, and it has been argued that larger assortments can be both beneficial and detrimental to consumers (Broniarczyk2008; Chernev 2008). We address the question of how assortment size influences consumer choice among retailers by investigating the impact of the attractiveness of the o

8、ptions constituting these assortments on consumer preferences. Retailers vary in terms of the attractiveness of the items they carry. Some retailers carry options that are, on average, of higher quality and thus are likely to be perceived as more attractive. In contrast, other retailers carry option

9、s that are, on average, of lower quality and are likely to be perceived as relatively less attractive. In addition, some assortments can be perceived as more attractive because the items they carry match consumer preferences. To illustrate, assortments comprising best-selling items that are likely t

10、o appeal to a majority of buyers are likely to be perceived as more attractive than assortments comprising less popular items. Likewise, assortments customized to fit the preferences of a particular customer segment are likely to be perceived as more attractive to that segment than assortments desig

11、ned to appeal to a broader segment. In this research, we argue that smaller assortments are more preferable when choosing among assortments comprising relatively more attractive options. We further propose that the relationship between assortment size and option attractiveness is concave, such that

12、the marginal impact of assortment size on choice decreases as the attractiveness of the options increases. We also posit that consumer assortment preferences are a function of the perceived benefits and costs associated with the available assortments, such that the hypothesized assortment attractive

13、ness effect is more pronounced when the perceived costs of choosing from the larger assortment are high than when they are low. The data from eight empirical studies support our theorizing and offer converging evidence in support of the predictions. An important aspect of a retailers decision about

14、how many items to carry in each product category involves understanding the impact of assortment size on consumers choice of a retailer. Despite the importance of this issue, prior research has made conflicting predictions about the impact of assortment size on consumer choice among assortments. Thu

15、s, it has been argued that a larger number of items can both increase and decrease the probability of selecting an assortment. We address this conflicting evidence by demonstrating that consumer preference for larger assortments is a function of the attractiveness of the options constituting the ass

16、ortments under consideration. We show that smaller assortments tend to be preferred primarily in cases in which the overall attractiveness of the options in the choice set is relatively high, whereas larger assortments tend to be preferred in cases in which these assortments comprise relatively less

17、 attractive options. Moreover, we show that the relationship between assortment size and option attractiveness is concave, such that the marginal impact of assortment size on choice decreases as the attractiveness of the options increases. In addition to documenting that assortment choice is conting

18、ent on the perceived attractiveness of assortment options, we show that varying option attractiveness can even lead to a preference reversal in favor of the smaller assortment. Indeed, in five of the eight experiments, more than 50% of participants selected the smaller assortment when assortments co

19、mprised relatively attractive options, even though the majority of participants favored larger over smaller assortments when choosing among assortments comprising less attractive options. These counterintuitive findings attest to the strength of the impact of option attractiveness on choice among as

20、sortments. The findings we report apply not only to scenarios in which the only information available to consumers before choice is assortment size but also to scenarios in which consumers can explore the options constituting the available assortments before making a choice. This is an important fin

21、ding because of the growing popularity of online retailing, which enables consumers to compare the assortments different retailers offer before selecting a retailer. In this context, we show that even when consumers go through several iterations when evaluating the available assortments, they are st

22、ill more likely to select from the larger assortment when the available assortments comprise relatively less attractive options. Note that the impact of option attractiveness on choice among assortments documented in this research is not independent of other factors that might influence consumer ass

23、ortment size preferences. In particular, we argue that the assortment-attractiveness effect is likely to be a function of the perceived benefits and costs associated with choosing each of the available assortments. Thus, the assortment attractiveness effect is likely to be more pronounced when the b

24、enefits and costs associated with choosing the larger and the smaller assortments are balanced and consumers are likely to be in different when choosing between the assortments. In contrast, when one of the assortments is clearly more preferred and its benefits outweigh the corresponding costs, the

25、impact of varying the attractiveness of the assortment options is likely to be less pronounced Our findings show that varying assortment size might have a directionally opposite effect on consumer choice of a retailer, depending on the attractiveness of the items in the assortment. Thus, in the case

26、 of low pricequality assortments, decreasing assortment size is likely to decrease overall store preference; in the case of high pricequality assortments, the negative impact of narrowing the assortment is likely to be less pronounced and potentially even reversed, leading to an increase in overall

27、store preference. 译文 在零售业中各式各样的大小对消费者选择的吸引力 资料来源 ： Journal of Marketing Research 作者 ： 亚历山 大 Chernev 和 瑞恩汉密尔顿 介绍： 一个重要的决定，包括选择零售商构成每类产品的花色品种的项目数。这项决定涉及了优化的好处和为买家和卖家品种规模成本的设定。因此，从零售商的角度来看，通常被认为是较小的花色品种更适合理由，如库存，货架空间，理想和融资成本（ Kurt Salmon 同伴 1993 年 ;伙伴合作组 1998 年）。在这方面，一些零售商已经考虑削减其花色品种，以增加其利 润。尽管有明显的节约成本

28、，这种方法也有担心，面临着各种各样的大小将减少对现在的零售商（阿诺德，韦梅，并泰格特 1983; Louviere 和 Gaeth 1987）的消费观念的负面影响同零售商的抵抗，最终导致购买的可能性降低。 该品种对零售商成本大小的影响越来越大，如何提高产品组合对影响买家的零售商选择的问题。因此，与创建一个成本有效的产品组合有关的零售商可能想知道是否降低其分类项目数将导致在商店的吸引力下降，降低了消费者选择商店的可能性。同样，与扩大其客户群有关的零售商可能想知道是否增加的品种规模将造成更大的 存储可能。尽管了解各种各样的消费选择的影响大小在零售商之间，现有的研究并没有提供一个明确的答案能回答这个

29、问题概念和实践的重要性，并一直认为，更大的花色品种对消费者可能是有益的也可能是有害的。 我们解决了产品组合的影响问题，就是通过调查分析消费者的不同花色品种喜好，影响消费者选择不同零售商问题。不同零售商在他们携带的物品上的吸引力。一些零售商进行平均数选择是，更高的质量，从而有可能被视为更具吸引力。相比之下，其他零售商进行平均数选择是，质量较低，并有可能被认为是相对缺乏吸引力。此外，一些花色品种可以被看作更具 吸引力，因为它们携带的物品符合消费者的喜好。为了说明这一点，花色品种，包括最畅销的项目，可能会吸引广大购买者的感知知觉，很可能是因为越来越多的分类以及冷门项目花色品种。同样，定制以满足特定客

30、户群的喜好花色品种有可能被认为比设计更多的花色品种能吸引更广泛的市场领域。 在此研究中，我们认为：小花色品种更加可取，是因为它较有吸引力，包括花色品种选择。我们进一步建议，产品组合和选项之间的关系是成正比的吸引力，这样大小的品种选择上降低 边际影响，因为增加吸引力的选项。我们还假定消费者的偏好是各种各样的知觉利益与可用花色品种相关费用，功能，这样的假设效果更加明显时，从较大的品种选择知觉成本比他们低时还要高。来自八个实证研究的资料在支持我们的理论预测，并提供融合的证据。 我们报告的结论不仅适用于场景，其中之前提供的唯一信息是消费者的选择品种大小，但是在这种情况下也可以探讨消费者根据构成可用的选

31、项花色品种，然后才作出选择。这是因为网上零售，让消费者在比较花色品种不同的零售商中选择零售商的这种日益普及的现象提供重要的发现。在这方面，我们表明，即使 消费者通过多次重复去进行评估时，他们更可能选择可用的品种，从较大的品种中选择可用的花色品种具有相对较少吸引力。 一个零售商的有关事项决定重要方面，对每类产品进行了解，涉及产品组合对消费者选择零售商的影响。尽管这一问题的重要性，事先研究预测：各种各样花色品种的大小对消费者选择的影响之间具有冲突。因此，有人认为，大量的项目既可以增加和减少选择一个品种的概率。我们通过这表明：消费者对较大的花色品种的偏好，是对正在审议的花色品种构成吸引力的功能选项这

32、个矛盾的证据。我们表明，在较小的花色品种往往是首选的情况下，主要在 其中的整体吸引力的选项中选择设置比较高，而较大的花色品种往往在这些案件中，包括花色品种相对较少吸引力的选择首选。此外，我们表明，品种之间的吸引力大小和选择的关系是成正比的，这样大小的品种选择上降低边际影响，因为增加吸引力的选项。 除了记录其品种的选择是建立在自觉的分类选项的吸引力队伍中的，我们还表明，选择不同的吸引力，甚至可以导致较小的赞成，偏好逆转品种。事实上，在八个试验中，超过 50的参与者选择了较小的品种时，花色品种有相对吸引力的选择，尽管大多数参与者赞成，大部分人选择在较小的花色品种，包括有吸引力的 选择花色品种少。这

33、些反直觉的发现证明了吸引力的选项中花色品种选择上的影响力。 请注意，选择的吸引力，对选择的影响在本研究中记录了，除了花色品种是不是有其他因素，可能影响消费者的产品组合的偏好。特别是，我们认为，桌椅可能跟选择可用的花色品种有关联，因为吸引力效果很可能是一个利益和成本的知觉功能的结合。因此，效果可能会更加明显，当利益和成本，选择较大和较小的花色品种是平衡的，消费者在各种花色品种之间选择可能会可无动于衷。与此相反，当一个很明显的花色品种比较偏爱，其好处超过了相应的成本，改变了分类选项的吸引力影响 可能不太明显。 我们的研究结果表明，不同品种的规模，可能会对消费者对零售商的选择定向相反的效果，取决于品种在项目中的吸引力。因此，在低价格低质量的花色品种的情况下，产品组合的下降可能会减少总体存储的偏好，在高价格高质量花色品种情况下，缩小了各种各样的负面影响可能不太明显，甚至潜在的逆转，导致整体存储偏好增加。