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Consumer-defined assortments: application of card-sorting to category management

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  • Gabriele Pizzi

    (University of Bologna)

  • Gian Luca Marzocchi

    (University of Bologna)

Abstract

Category management theory and practice have traditionally overlooked the role of the consumer in defining category boundaries. Industry-based criteria do not necessarily overlap with the perceptual view of the assortment held, implicitly or explicitly, by consumers. This research aims to propose a methodological approach to derive a customer-oriented shelf layout from customer perceptions of product similarities and to empirically test if adopting such a consumer-oriented shelf layout significantly affects consumers’ in-store perceptions and reactions. In two studies, we show that consumer-based shelf layouts determine higher levels of store satisfaction because of the higher level of fit between product display on the shelves and consumers’ cognitive categorization of the assortment.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijmark:v:2020:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s43039-020-00005-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s43039-020-00005-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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