When Are Stockpiled Products Consumed Faster? A Convenience-Salience Framework of Postpurchase Consumption Incidence and Quantity

• Published in: Journal of marketing research Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 321 - 335
• Main Authors: Chandon, Pierre, Wansink, Brian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago American Marketing Association 01.08.2002; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: behavior; choice; Consumer behavior; Consumer choice; Consumer convenience; Consumer goods; Consumer psychology; Consumer research; Consumers; Consumption; Costs; Expected values; Field study; Household consumption; Influence; Laboratories; Marketing; memory; Packaged goods; Packaging; Pantries; price promotions; recall; sales; Sales promotions; Saliency; Scanners; self-control; Statistical analysis; Studies; variety-seeking; volume
• ISSN: 0022-2437; 1547-7193
• DOI: 10.1509/jmkr.39.3.321.19111

When people stockpile products, how do they decide when and how much they will consume? To answer this question, the authors develop a framework that shows how the salience and convenience of products influence postpurchase consumption incidence and quantity. Multiple research methods-including scanner data analysis, a field study, and two laboratory studies-show that stockpiling increases product salience and triggers consumption incidence among high-convenience products. However, when the decision is made to consume a product, stockpiling increases the consumption quantity for both high- and low-convenience products. In addition to providing new insights on how consumers make postpurchase consumption decisions, these results have implications for the debate on the value of promotions that induce stockpiling.