IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joamsc/v46y2018i1d10.1007_s11747-017-0549-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The substitution strategy dilemma: substitute selection versus substitute effectiveness

Author

Listed:
  • Zachary G. Arens

    (Oklahoma State University)

  • Rebecca W. Hamilton

    (Georgetown University)

Abstract

Many brands build market share by acting as a substitute when competitive brands become undesirable or difficult to obtain. Notably, prior research offers competing strategic recommendations for marketers hoping to encourage consumers to engage in substitution. Past research examining substitute selection—measuring consumers’ beliefs about how well one product will substitute for another—suggests that marketers should offer replacements that are similar to the initially preferred product. In contrast, research examining substitute effectiveness—the consequences of substitution—suggests that differentiated brands will enjoy more long-term success. We integrate these two streams of research, explaining why there is a mismatch between substitute selection and substitute effectiveness, replicating and showing boundary conditions for the effects, and testing a managerial intervention that encourages consumers to choose more dissimilar (and more effective) substitutes.

Suggested Citation

  • Zachary G. Arens & Rebecca W. Hamilton, 2018. "The substitution strategy dilemma: substitute selection versus substitute effectiveness," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 130-146, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:joamsc:v:46:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11747-017-0549-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11747-017-0549-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11747-017-0549-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11747-017-0549-2?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. Nedungadi, Prakash, 1990. "Recall and Consumer Consideration Sets: Influencing Choice without Altering Brand Evaluations," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 17(3), pages 263-276, December.
    2. Kelvin J. Lancaster, 1966. "A New Approach to Consumer Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(2), pages 132-132.
    3. MacKenzie, Scott B, 1986. "The Role of Attention in Mediating the Effect of Advertising on Attribute Importance," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(2), pages 174-195, September.
    4. Bettman, James R & Luce, Mary Frances & Payne, John W, 1998. "Constructive Consumer Choice Processes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(3), pages 187-217, December.
    5. Ratchford, Brian T, 1979. "Operationalizing Economic Models of Demand for Product Characteristics," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 6(1), pages 76-84, June.
    6. Rebecca Hamilton & Debora Thompson & Zachary Arens & Simon Blanchard & Gerald Häubl & P. Kannan & Uzma Khan & Donald Lehmann & Margaret Meloy & Neal Roese & Manoj Thomas, 2014. "Consumer substitution decisions: an integrative framework," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 305-317, September.
    7. Zachary G. Arens & Rebecca W. Hamilton, 2016. "Why Focusing on the Similarity of Substitutes Leaves a Lot to Be Desired," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(3), pages 448-459.
    8. Glen L. Urban & Philip L. Johnson & John R. Hauser, 1984. "Testing Competitive Market Structures," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(2), pages 83-112.
    9. Gregory S. Carpenter & Kent Nakamoto, 1990. "Competitive Strategies for Late Entry into a Market with a Dominant Brand," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(10), pages 1268-1278, October.
    10. Ratneshwar, S & Pechmann, Cornelia & Shocker, Allan D, 1996. "Goal-Derived Categories and the Antecedents of Across-Category Consideration," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 23(3), pages 240-250, December.
    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. Gellatly, Lauren & D'Alessandro, Steven & Carter, Leanne, 2020. "What can the university sector teach us about strategy? Support for strategy versus individual motivations to perform," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 320-330.
    2. Hana Trollman & Sandeep Jagtap & Frank Trollman, 2023. "Crowdsourcing food security: introducing food choice derivatives for sustainability," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(4), pages 953-965, August.
    3. Mar Vila & Gerard Costa, 2024. "Post-Pandemic Shifts in Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors in a Marine Protected Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-14, August.
    4. Rebecca Hamilton & Debora Thompson & Sterling Bone & Lan Nguyen Chaplin & Vladas Griskevicius & Kelly Goldsmith & Ronald Hill & Deborah Roedder John & Chiraag Mittal & Thomas O’Guinn & Paul Piff & Car, 2019. "The effects of scarcity on consumer decision journeys," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 532-550, May.

    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. Petjon Ballco & Betina Piqueras-Fiszman & Hans C. M. van Trijp, 2022. "The Influence of Consumption Context on Indulgent Versus Healthy Yoghurts: Exploring the Relationship between the Associated Emotions and the Actual Choices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Hyowon Kim & Dong Soo Kim & Greg M. Allenby, 2020. "Benefit Formation and Enhancement," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 419-468, December.
    3. Chadwick J. Miller & Daniel C. Brannon & Jim Salas & Martha Troncoza, 2021. "Advertising, incentives, and the upsell: how advertising differentially moderates customer- vs. retailer-directed price incentives’ impact on consumers’ preferences for premium products," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1043-1064, November.
    4. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2018. "도이모이 이후 베트남의 주거 이동, 선택, 가격 결정요인 연구: 호치민시 사례 중심으로," OSF Preprints 6kdfy, Center for Open Science.
    5. Jacobs Martin, 2016. "Accounting for Changing Tastes: Approaches to Explaining Unstable Individual Preferences," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 67(2), pages 121-183, August.
    6. Hauser, John R., 2014. "Consideration-set heuristics," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1688-1699.
    7. Stefano Ficco & Vladimir Karamychev & Peran van Reeven, 2006. "A Theory of Procedurally Rational Choice: Optimization without Evaluation," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 06-001/1, Tinbergen Institute.
    8. Wayne DeSarbo & Kamel Jedidi & Joel Steckel, 1991. "A stochastic multidimensional scaling procedure for the empirical determination of convex indifference curves for preference/choice analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 56(2), pages 279-307, June.
    9. Rebecca Hamilton & Debora Thompson & Sterling Bone & Lan Nguyen Chaplin & Vladas Griskevicius & Kelly Goldsmith & Ronald Hill & Deborah Roedder John & Chiraag Mittal & Thomas O’Guinn & Paul Piff & Car, 2019. "The effects of scarcity on consumer decision journeys," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 532-550, May.
    10. Kamalini Ramdas & Mohanbir S. Sawhney, 2001. "A Cross-Functional Approach to Evaluating Multiple Line Extensions for Assembled Products," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(1), pages 22-36, January.
    11. Desmichel, Perrine & Kocher, Bruno, 2020. "Luxury Single- versus Multi-Brand Stores: The Effect of Consumers’ Hedonic Goals on Brand Comparisons," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 203-219.
    12. Ali Eldesouky & Francisco J. Mesias & Miguel Escribano, 2020. "Consumer Assessment of Sustainability Traits in Meat Production. A Choice Experiment Study in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-16, May.
    13. Nes, Kjersti & Ciaian, Pavel & Di Marcantonio, Federica, 2021. "Economic determinants of differences in the composition of seemingly identical branded food products in the EU," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    14. Kaye-Blake, William & Abell, Walter L. & Zellman, Eva, 2009. "Respondents’ ignoring of attribute information in a choice modelling survey," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(4), pages 1-18.
    15. Heiman, Amir & Lowengart, Oded, 2008. "The effect of information about health hazards on demand for frequently purchased commodities," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 310-318.
    16. Philippe Jourdan, 2002. "De la marque en capitales vers le capital marque : quoi de neuf depuis les travaux du MSI ?," Post-Print hal-01134684, HAL.
    17. John R. Hauser & Steven M. Shugan, 2008. "Commentary—Defensive Marketing Strategies," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 85-87, 01-02.
    18. Tarján, Tamás & Veres, Zoltán, 2018. "Szekvenciális fogyasztói termékválasztás döntési kontinuuma [The decision-making continuum of sequential consumer-product choices]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(5), pages 525-550.
    19. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2018. "Residential Mobility, Housing Choice, and Price Determinants in Transitional Vietnam: The Case of Ho Chi Minh City," OSF Preprints j7wvh, Center for Open Science.
    20. Mathew B. Chylinski & John H. Roberts & Bruce G. S. Hardie, 2012. "Consumer Learning of New Binary Attribute Importance Accounting for Priors, Bias, and Order Effects," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 549-566, July.

    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:spr:joamsc:v:46:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11747-017-0549-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.