The Psychology of Basket Size: How Mental Representation and the Relationships between Products Affect Purchase Quantity
Posted: 1 Jul 2016
Date Written: June 29, 2016
Abstract
Many consumer choices involve choosing multiple options from an assortment of products that serve the same goal (e.g., choosing among products in the oral care aisle). We propose that the number of products purchased in these scenarios depends upon consumers’ mental representation and on the relationships among the products in the assortment. Across three experiments, we find that consumers who formed an abstract (vs. concrete) representation purchased more items when the assortment comprised of products that offered distinct ways to serve the higher level representation of the goal. We explain these results based on the premise that those who form an abstract representation are more likely to attend to the distinct ways in which each product may offer a means that services the higher level representation of the goal. Consistent with this underlying mechanism, an abstract (vs. concrete) representation resulted in fewer purchases when the products in the assortment offered more substitutable ways to serve the higher level representation of the goal. We conclude by discussing directions for future research suggested by these results.
Keywords: choice, purchase quantity, construal level theory, mindsets, goals
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