IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jouret/v98y2022i3p558-571.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

It's not only what they buy, it's also what they keep: Linking marketing instruments to product returns

Author

Listed:
  • El Kihal, Siham
  • Shehu, Edlira

Abstract

Online retailers implement various marketing instruments to boost their sales. These marketing instruments can not only impact sales, but also product returns. However, when assessing the performance of marketing instruments, retailers often ignore potential return effects. Theoretically, marketing instruments could increase or decrease returns, depending on how they affect expected and experienced costs and benefits related to a product. In this paper, we empirically examine whether, and how a comprehensive set of marketing instruments (newsletters, catalogs, coupons, free shipping, paid search, affiliate advertising and image advertising) affects product returns. We use data from two major online retailers and show that return effects vary largely across marketing instruments. Surprisingly, none of the instruments reduces product returns. Newsletters, paid search, catalogs and free shipping increase returns substantially by up to 18%. For free shipping and catalogs, the return effects emerge prevalently for fashion categories, whereas online advertising and newsletters increase returns of both fashion and non-fashion products. These findings enhance our understanding of how firm-initiated marketing instruments affect returns and provide guidance for online retailers in multimedia environments.

Suggested Citation

  • El Kihal, Siham & Shehu, Edlira, 2022. "It's not only what they buy, it's also what they keep: Linking marketing instruments to product returns," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 558-571.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jouret:v:98:y:2022:i:3:p:558-571
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2022.01.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022435922000021
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretai.2022.01.002?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. Yili (Kevin) Hong & Paul A. Pavlou, 2014. "Product Fit Uncertainty in Online Markets: Nature, Effects, and Antecedents," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 328-344, June.
    2. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    3. Thorsten Wiesel & Koen Pauwels & Joep Arts, 2011. "Practice Prize Paper --Marketing's Profit Impact: Quantifying Online and Off-line Funnel Progression," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 604-611, July.
    4. Ailawadi, Kusum L. & Beauchamp, J.P. & Donthu, Naveen & Gauri, Dinesh K. & Shankar, Venkatesh, 2009. "Communication and Promotion Decisions in Retailing: A Review and Directions for Future Research," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 42-55.
    5. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    6. Janakiraman, Narayan & Syrdal, Holly A. & Freling, Ryan, 2016. "The Effect of Return Policy Leniency on Consumer Purchase and Return Decisions: A Meta-analytic Review," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 226-235.
    7. Anderl, Eva & Schumann, Jan Hendrik & Kunz, Werner, 2016. "Helping Firms Reduce Complexity in Multichannel Online Data: A New Taxonomy-Based Approach for Customer Journeys," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 185-203.
    8. Unnati Narang & Venkatesh Shankar, 2019. "Mobile App Introduction and Online and Offline Purchases and Product Returns," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(5), pages 756-772, September.
    9. Prabuddha De & Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Mohammad S. Rahman, 2013. "Product-Oriented Web Technologies and Product Returns: An Exploratory Study," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 998-1010, December.
    10. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Eric T. Anderson & Karsten Hansen & Duncan Simester, 2009. "The Option Value of Returns: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 405-423, 05-06.
    12. Anke Lepthien & Michel Clement, 2019. "Shipping fee schedules and return behavior," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 151-165, June.
    13. Grewal, Dhruv & Roggeveen, Anne L., 2020. "Understanding Retail Experiences and Customer Journey Management," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 3-8.
    14. Schulz, Petra & Shehu, Edlira & Clement, Michel, 2019. "When consumers can return digital products: Influence of firm- and consumer-induced communication on the returns and profitability of news articles," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 454-470.
    15. Jeffrey D. Shulman & Marcus Cunha & Julian K. Saint Clair, 2015. "Consumer Uncertainty and Purchase Decision Reversals: Theory and Evidence," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(4), pages 590-605, July.
    16. Kalaignanam, Kartik & Kushwaha, Tarun & Rajavi, Koushyar, 2018. "How Does Web Personalization Create Value for Online Retailers? Lower Cash Flow Volatility or Enhanced Cash Flows," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 265-279.
    17. Minnema, Alec & Bijmolt, Tammo H.A. & Gensler, Sonja & Wiesel, Thorsten, 2016. "To Keep or Not to Keep: Effects of Online Customer Reviews on Product Returns," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 253-267.
    18. Melis, Kristina & Campo, Katia & Lamey, Lien & Breugelmans, Els, 2016. "A Bigger Slice of the Multichannel Grocery Pie: When Does Consumers’ Online Channel Use Expand Retailers’ Share of Wallet?," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 268-286.
    19. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    20. Sungho Park & Sachin Gupta, 2012. "Handling Endogenous Regressors by Joint Estimation Using Copulas," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 567-586, July.
    21. Papke, Leslie E & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M, 1996. "Econometric Methods for Fractional Response Variables with an Application to 401(K) Plan Participation Rates," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(6), pages 619-632, Nov.-Dec..
    22. Scott A. Neslin & Robert W. Shoemaker, 1983. "A Model for Evaluating the Profitability of Coupon Promotions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(4), pages 361-388.
    23. El Kihal, Siham & Nurullayev, Namig & Schulze, Christian & Skiera, Bernd, 2021. "A Comparison of Return Rate Calculation Methods: Evidence from 16 Retailers," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 676-696.
    24. Oliver J. Rutz & Michael Trusov, 2011. "Zooming In on Paid Search Ads--A Consumer-Level Model Calibrated on Aggregated Data," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(5), pages 789-800, September.
    25. Anindya Ghose & Sha Yang, 2009. "An Empirical Analysis of Search Engine Advertising: Sponsored Search in Electronic Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(10), pages 1605-1622, October.
    26. Gerald Häubl & Valerie Trifts, 2000. "Consumer Decision Making in Online Shopping Environments: The Effects of Interactive Decision Aids," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 4-21, May.
    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. Vakeel, Khadija Ali & Fudurić, Morana & Viswanathan, Vijay & Sakashita, Mototaka, 2023. "Sustaining shopping momentum in retail malls using real-time messaging," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 102-114.
    2. Zhang, Danni & Frei, Regina & Senyo, P.K. & Bayer, Steffen & Gerding, Enrico & Wills, Gary & Beck, Adrian, 2023. "Understanding fraudulent returns and mitigation strategies in multichannel retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    3. Daria Dzyabura & Siham El Kihal & John R. Hauser & Marat Ibragimov, 2023. "Leveraging the Power of Images in Managing Product Return Rates," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(6), pages 1125-1142, November.
    4. von Zahn, Moritz & Bauer, Kevin & Mihale-Wilson, Cristina & Jagow, Johanna & Speicher, Max & Hinz, Oliver, 2022. "The smart green nudge: Reducing product returns through enriched digital footprints & causal machine learning," SAFE Working Paper Series 363, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, revised 2022.

    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. Schulz, Petra & Shehu, Edlira & Clement, Michel, 2019. "When consumers can return digital products: Influence of firm- and consumer-induced communication on the returns and profitability of news articles," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 454-470.
    2. Duong, Quang Huy & Zhou, Li & Meng, Meng & Nguyen, Truong Van & Ieromonachou, Petros & Nguyen, Duy Tiep, 2022. "Understanding product returns: A systematic literature review using machine learning and bibliometric analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    3. Necati Ertekin & Anupam Agrawal, 2021. "How Does a Return Period Policy Change Affect Multichannel Retailer Profitability?," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 210-229, 1-2.
    4. Rokonuzzaman, Md & Iyer, Pramod & Harun, Ahasan, 2021. "Return policy, No joke: An investigation into the impact of a retailer's return policy on consumers' decision making," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    5. Björn Stöcker & Daniel Baier & Benedikt M. Brand, 2021. "New insights in online fashion retail returns from a customers’ perspective and their dynamics," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(8), pages 1149-1187, October.
    6. Necati Ertekin & Michael E. Ketzenberg & Gregory R. Heim, 2020. "Assessing Impacts of Store and Salesperson Dimensions of Retail Service Quality on Consumer Returns," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(5), pages 1232-1255, May.
    7. Minnema, Alec & Bijmolt, Tammo H.A. & Gensler, Sonja & Wiesel, Thorsten, 2016. "To Keep or Not to Keep: Effects of Online Customer Reviews on Product Returns," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 253-267.
    8. Oliver J. Rutz & George F. Watson, 2019. "Endogeneity and marketing strategy research: an overview," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 479-498, May.
    9. Daria Dzyabura & Siham El Kihal & John R. Hauser & Marat Ibragimov, 2023. "Leveraging the Power of Images in Managing Product Return Rates," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(6), pages 1125-1142, November.
    10. Hsing Kenneth Cheng & D. Daniel Sokol & Xinyu Zang, 2024. "The rise of empirical online platform research in the new millennium," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 416-451, March.
    11. Santiago Gallino & Antonio Moreno, 2018. "The Value of Fit Information in Online Retail: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 767-787, October.
    12. Nachiketa Sahoo & Chrysanthos Dellarocas & Shuba Srinivasan, 2018. "The Impact of Online Product Reviews on Product Returns," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 723-738, September.
    13. Justus Haucap & Johannes Muck, 2015. "What drives the relevance and reputation of economics journals? An update from a survey among economists," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(3), pages 849-877, June.
    14. Changhyun Kim & Yoonseok Zang & Heli Wang & Kate Niu, 2024. "When Do Corporate Good Deeds Become a Burden? The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility Following Negative Events," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(2), pages 285-306, June.
    15. Gabriel Jiménez & Steven Ongena & José‐Luis Peydró & Jesús Saurina, 2014. "Hazardous Times for Monetary Policy: What Do Twenty‐Three Million Bank Loans Say About the Effects of Monetary Policy on Credit Risk‐Taking?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(2), pages 463-505, March.
    16. Xiong, Bo & Beghin, John C. & Marette, Stephan, 2013. "Gains to French champagne makers from tariff liberalization," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150003, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Nath, Pravin & Kirca, Ahmet H. & Kim, Saejoon & Andras, Trina Larsen, 2019. "The Effects of Retail Banner Standardization on the Performance of Global Retailers," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 30-46.
    18. Gabriel J. Power & Djerry C. Mbianda Tandja, 2022. "Should lenders also advise? Evidence from project loans," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 961-985, December.
    19. Bies, Suzanne, 2022. "Examining the effectiveness of activation techniques on consumer behavior in temporary loyalty programs," Other publications TiSEM ade86df3-4846-4318-938f-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    20. Jean–Luc Arregle & Lucia Naldi & Mattias Nordqvist & Michael A. Hitt, 2012. "Internationalization of Family–Controlled Firms: A Study of the Effects of External Involvement in Governance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1115-1143, November.

    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:jouret:v:98:y:2022:i:3:p:558-571. 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-retailing .

    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.