IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v117y2020icp163-175.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The interplay of brand-line assortment size and alignability in the sales of brand-lines and line-extensions of frequently purchased products

Author

Listed:
  • Aurier, Philippe
  • Mejía, Victor D.

Abstract

Assortment size is paramount for brand-lines, due to its impact on performance. However, recent experimental research suggests an interaction with alignability: large nonalignable lines might be unfavorable, due to increased complexity and regrets. Using panel data, we confirm this negative interaction for brand-line sales. However, size has a strong positive effect which overcompensates for its negative interaction with nonalignability. Increasing it is always beneficial, even for nonalignable lines. In comparison, store assortment size demonstrates a negative impact on sales, due to the increase in category clutter it causes. We also study size and alignability effects in the case of a line-extension (new product in the same category). Here, the positive impact of line size is thwarted by established brand-line product cannibalization, a phenomenon positively influenced by brand-line strength and alignability. Thus, depending on brand-line strength and alignability strategies, a large size is not always favorable to line-extension sales.

Suggested Citation

  • Aurier, Philippe & Mejía, Victor D., 2020. "The interplay of brand-line assortment size and alignability in the sales of brand-lines and line-extensions of frequently purchased products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 163-175.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:117:y:2020:i:c:p:163-175
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296320303155
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Byung-Kwan & Lee, Wei-Na, 2016. "The effect of structural alignment on choice-process satisfaction and preference formation: The moderating role of self-construal," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 2747-2755.
    2. Vijay Ganesh Hariharan & Ram Bezawada & Debabrata Talukdar, 2015. "Aggregate Impact of Different Brand Development Strategies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(5), pages 1164-1182, May.
    3. Leeflang, P.S.H. & Wittink, Dick R., 2000. "Building models for marketing decisions: past, present and future," Research Report 00F20, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    4. Sunder Kekre & Kannan Srinivasan, 1990. "Broader Product Line: A Necessity to Achieve Success?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(10), pages 1216-1232, October.
    5. repec:dgr:rugsom:00f20 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. J. Miguel Villas-Boas, 2009. "Product Variety and Endogenous Pricing with Evaluation Costs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(8), pages 1338-1346, August.
    7. Peter E. Rossi, 2014. "Invited Paper —Even the Rich Can Make Themselves Poor: A Critical Examination of IV Methods in Marketing Applications," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(5), pages 655-672, September.
    8. John T. Gourville & Dilip Soman, 2005. "Overchoice and Assortment Type: When and Why Variety Backfires," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 382-395, July.
    9. Jonah Berger & Michaela Draganska & Itamar Simonson, 2007. "The Influence of Product Variety on Brand Perception and Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 460-472, 07-08.
    10. Benjamin Scheibehenne & Rainer Greifeneder & Peter M. Todd, 2010. "Can There Ever Be Too Many Options? A Meta-Analytic Review of Choice Overload," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(3), pages 409-425, October.
    11. Claudia Townsend & Barbara E. Kahn, 2014. "The "Visual Preference Heuristic": The Influence of Visual versus Verbal Depiction on Assortment Processing, Perceived Variety, and Choice Overload," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(5), pages 993-1015.
    12. Kahn, Barbara E & Wansink, Brian, 2004. "The Influence of Assortment Structure on Perceived Variety and Consumption Quantities," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(4), pages 519-533, March.
    13. Eisend, Martin, 2014. "Shelf space elasticity: A meta-analysis," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 168-181.
    14. Sharad Borle & Peter Boatwright & Joseph B. Kadane & Joseph C. Nunes & Shmueli Galit, 2005. "The Effect of Product Assortment Changes on Customer Retention," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 616-622, July.
    15. Michaela Draganska & Dipak C. Jain, 2005. "Product‐Line Length as a Competitive Tool," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 1-28, March.
    16. Stephen J. Hoch & Eric T. Bradlow & Brian Wansink, 1999. "The Variety of an Assortment," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 527-546.
    17. Robert P. Rooderkerk & Harald J. van Heerde & Tammo H. A. Bijmolt, 2013. "Optimizing Retail Assortments," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(5), pages 699-715, September.
    18. Som, Anirban & Lee, Yih Hwai, 2012. "The joint effects of choice assortment and regulatory focus on choice behavior," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 202-209.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Philippe Aurier & Victor D. Mejía, 2021. "The differing impacts of brand-line breadth and depth on customers’ repurchasing behavior of frequently purchased packaged goods," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1244-1266, November.
    2. Charles Hugh Wilkie, Dean & Mirzaei, Abas & Pham, Ngoc & Johnson, Lester W., 2022. "Reassessing product line breadth effectiveness: The role of heterogeneity, moderation, and cumulative effects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 434-447.
    3. Mejía, Victor D. & Aurier, Philippe & Huaman-Ramirez, Richard, 2021. "Disentangling the respective impacts of assortment size and alignability on perceived assortment variety," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Philippe Aurier & Victor D. Mejía, 2021. "The differing impacts of brand-line breadth and depth on customers’ repurchasing behavior of frequently purchased packaged goods," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1244-1266, November.
    2. Mejía, Victor D. & Aurier, Philippe & Huaman-Ramirez, Richard, 2021. "Disentangling the respective impacts of assortment size and alignability on perceived assortment variety," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    3. Jonah Berger & Michaela Draganska & Itamar Simonson, 2007. "The Influence of Product Variety on Brand Perception and Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 460-472, 07-08.
    4. Claire Heeryung Kim & Joonkyung Kim, 2021. "The Role of Cause Involvement and Assortment Size on Decision Difficulty via Communal Relationships," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Anocha Aribarg & Neeraj Arora, 2008. "—Interbrand Variant Overlap: Impact on Brand Preference and Portfolio Profit," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 474-491, 05-06.
    6. Beneke, Justin & Cumming, Alice & Jolly, Lindsey, 2013. "The effect of item reduction on assortment satisfaction—A consideration of the category of red wine in a controlled retail setting," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 282-291.
    7. Serguei Netessine & Terry A. Taylor, 2007. "Product Line Design and Production Technology," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 101-117, 01-02.
    8. Kahn, Barbara E., 2017. "Using Visual Design to Improve Customer Perceptions of Online Assortments," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 29-42.
    9. Emrich, Oliver & Paul, Michael & Rudolph, Thomas, 2015. "Shopping Benefits of Multichannel Assortment Integration and the Moderating Role of Retailer Type," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 326-342.
    10. Yan, Huan & Chang, En-Chung & Chou, Ting-Jui & Tang, Xiaofei, 2015. "The over-categorization effect: How the number of categorizations influences shoppers' perceptions of variety and satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 631-638.
    11. Pizzi, Gabriele & Scarpi, Daniele, 2016. "The effect of shelf layout on satisfaction and perceived assortment size: An empirical assessment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 67-77.
    12. Diehl, Kristin & van Herpen, Erica & Lamberton, Cait, 2015. "Organizing Products with Complements versus Substitutes: Effects on Store Preferences as a Function of Effort and Assortment Perceptions," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 1-18.
    13. Barbara Kahn & Alexander Chernev & Ulf Böckenholt & Kate Bundorf & Michaela Draganska & Ryan Hamilton & Robert Meyer & Klaus Wertenbroch, 2014. "Consumer and managerial goals in assortment choice and design," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 293-303, September.
    14. Chan, Eugene Y., 2015. "Attractiveness of options moderates the effect of choice overload," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 425-427.
    15. repec:cup:judgdm:v:12:y:2017:i:1:p:42-59 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Alibeiki, Hedayat & Li, Shanling & Vaidyanathan, Ramnath, 2020. "Market dominance or product cost advantage: Retail power impacts on assortment decisions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    17. Helena Szrek, 2017. "How the number of options and perceived variety influence choice satisfaction: An experiment with prescription drug plans," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 12(1), pages 42-59, January.
    18. Suren Basov & Svetlana Danilkina & David Prentice, 2020. "When Does Variety Increase with Quality?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 56(3), pages 463-487, May.
    19. Yanhui Zhao & Yufei Zhang & Joyce (Feng) Wang & Wyatt A. Schrock & Roger J. Calantone, 2020. "Brand relevance and the effects of product proliferation across product categories," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 1192-1210, November.
    20. Gabriele Pizzi & Gian Luca Marzocchi, 2020. "Consumer-defined assortments: application of card-sorting to category management," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2020(1), pages 67-84, March.
    21. Prediger, Maciel & Huertas-Garcia, Rubén & Gázquez-Abad, Juan Carlos, 2019. "Store flyer design and the intentions to visit the store and buy: The moderating role of perceived variety and perceived store image," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 202-211.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:117:y:2020:i:c:p:163-175. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.