IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joinma/v25y2011i3p159-168.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of the Number of Product Subcategories on Perceived Variety and Shopping Experience in an Online Store

Author

Listed:
  • Chang, Chingching

Abstract

This study tested whether organizing the same number of products in different ways on an online store's website influences attitudes toward the store. The pilot study revealed that when the products were sorted into more subcategories (9 as opposed to 3), such that more subcategory options appeared in the selection menu, participants perceived that the website offered a greater variety of products and experienced greater ease of navigation and shopping pleasure, which improved their attitudes toward the online store. The next experiment tested the same effect but with three subcategory quantities (18, 9, and 3) while also considering the moderating effect of choice uncertainty (high versus low) in two processing contexts (buying versus browsing). The more subcategory options, the greater consumers' perceived variety. However, the influence of the number of subcategory options on ease of navigation, shopping pleasure, attitudes toward the store, and future purchase intentions indicated an inverted U-shaped pattern; moreover, the influence was significant only among participants with low rather than high choice uncertainty. This article concludes with implications for online marketing.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang, Chingching, 2011. "The Effect of the Number of Product Subcategories on Perceived Variety and Shopping Experience in an Online Store," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 159-168.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joinma:v:25:y:2011:i:3:p:159-168
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intmar.2011.04.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1094996811000302
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intmar.2011.04.001?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. Kelvin Lancaster, 1990. "The Economics of Product Variety: A Survey," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 189-206.
    2. 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.
    3. Dhar, Ravi, 1997. "Consumer Preference for a No-Choice Option," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(2), pages 215-231, September.
    4. 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.
    5. Jean-Noël Kapferer & Gilles Laurent, 1985. "Measuring consumer involvement profiles," Post-Print hal-00786781, HAL.
    6. Cassie Mogilner & Tamar Rudnick & Sheena S. Iyengar, 2008. "The Mere Categorization Effect: How the Presence of Categories Increases Choosers' Perceptions of Assortment Variety and Outcome Satisfaction," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 202-215, June.
    7. Steenkamp, Jan-Benedict E M & Baumgartner, Hans, 1992. "The Role of Optimum Stimulation Level in Exploratory Consumer Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(3), pages 434-448, December.
    8. Kreps, David M, 1979. "A Representation Theorem for "Preference for Flexibility"," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(3), pages 565-577, May.
    9. Malhotra, Naresh K, 1982. "Information Load and Consumer Decision Making," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 8(4), pages 419-430, March.
    10. McAlister, Leigh & Pessemier, Edgar, 1982. "Variety Seeking Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Review," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 9(3), pages 311-322, December.
    11. Menon, Satya & Kahn, Barbara E, 1995. "The Impact of Context on Variety Seeking in Product Choices," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(3), pages 285-295, December.
    12. Cassie Mogilner & Tamar Rudnick & Sheena Iyengar, 2008. "The Mere Categorization Effect: How the Presence of Categories Increases Choosers' Perceptions of Assortment Variety," Economics Working Papers 0070, Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science.
    13. Urbany, Joel E & Dickson, Peter R & Wilkie, William L, 1989. "Buyer Uncertainty and Information Search," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(2), pages 208-215, September.
    14. Stephen J. Hoch & Eric T. Bradlow & Brian Wansink, 1999. "The Variety of an Assortment," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 527-546.
    15. Monideepa Tarafdar & Jie (Jennifer) Zhang, 2005. "Analyzing the Influence of Web Site Design Parameters on Web Site Usability," Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ), IGI Global, vol. 18(4), pages 62-80, October.
    16. Flynn, Leisa Reinecke & Goldsmith, Ronald E., 1999. "A Short, Reliable Measure of Subjective Knowledge," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 57-66, September.
    17. Chernev, Alexander, 2003. "When More Is Less and Less Is More: The Role of Ideal Point Availability and Assortment in Consumer Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(2), pages 170-183, September.
    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. 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.
    2. Kahn, Barbara E., 2017. "Using Visual Design to Improve Customer Perceptions of Online Assortments," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 29-42.
    3. Liying Wei, 2016. "Decision-making Behaviours toward Online Shopping," International Journal of Marketing Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(3), pages 111-121, June.
    4. Grzegorz Szymański, 2021. "Marketing Activities of Local Food Producers in E-Commerce," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-20, August.
    5. Hense, Jonas & Hübner, Alexander, 2022. "Assortment optimization in omni-channel retailing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(1), pages 124-140.
    6. 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).
    7. Lee, Ha Kyung & Choo, Ho Jung, 2019. "Birds of a feather flocked together look abundant: The visual gestalt effect of an assortment presentation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 170-182.

    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. 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.
    2. Spassova, Gerri & Isen, Alice M., 2013. "Positive affect moderates the impact of assortment size on choice satisfaction," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 397-408.
    3. 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.
    4. Desai, Kalpesh Kaushik & Trivedi, Minakshi, 2014. "Do consumer perceptions matter in measuring choice variety and variety seeking?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 2786-2792.
    5. Kahn, Barbara E., 2017. "Using Visual Design to Improve Customer Perceptions of Online Assortments," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 29-42.
    6. repec:cup:judgdm:v:12:y:2017:i:1:p:42-59 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Mark Heitmann & Andreas Herrmann & Christian Kaiser, 2007. "The effect of product variety on purchase probability," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 111-131, August.
    10. Jordan Etkin & Cassie Mogilner, 2016. "Does Variety Among Activities Increase Happiness?," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(2), pages 210-229.
    11. Lee, Ha Kyung & Choo, Ho Jung, 2019. "Birds of a feather flocked together look abundant: The visual gestalt effect of an assortment presentation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 170-182.
    12. 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.
    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. Langner, Tobias & Krengel, Martin, 2013. "The mere categorization effect for complex products: The moderating role of expertise and affect," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(7), pages 924-932.
    15. Park, Jeong-Yeol & Jang, SooCheong (Shawn), 2013. "Confused by too many choices? Choice overload in tourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-12.
    16. 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.
    17. Li, Eric A.L., 2014. "Test for the real option in consumer behavior," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 70-83.
    18. Qin, Dan, 2024. "A simple model of two-stage choice," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    19. Gu, Yangjie & Wu, Yuechen, 2023. "Highlighting supply-abundance increases attraction to small-assortment retailers," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 420-439.
    20. Thai, Nguyen T. & Yuksel, Ulku, 2017. "Too many destinations to visit: Tourists’ dilemma?," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 38-53.
    21. Ketron, Seth & Spears, Nancy & Dai, Bo, 2016. "Overcoming information overload in retail environments: Imagination and sales promotion in a wine context," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 23-32.

    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:joinma:v:25:y:2011:i:3:p:159-168. 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: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-interactive-marketing/ .

    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.