An Anchoring and Adjustment Model of Purchase Quantity Decisions

AbstractHow do consumers decide how many units to buy? This is a key issue for researchers, retailers, and manufacturers. While past research has focused on purchase incidence and brand choice, this research focuses on the psychological process behind the purchase quantity decision and shows how marketers can exert influence. We propose that a simple anchoring and adjustment judgment model describes how consumers make purchase quantity decisions. This process also suggests ways in which simple point-of-purchase (P-O-P) materials can be employed to affect the quantity decision. Two field experiments and three lab studies show that external anchors have a powerful impact on quantity decisions whether presented in the form of multiple unit prices, purchase quantity limits, suggestive selling anchors, or even irrelevant anchors. A final study provides more direct evidence of the underlying judgment process and shows that people can be encouraged to retrieve alternative internal anchors that either expand or contract purchase intentions, eliminating the external anchor effect.Originally published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Volume 35, Issue 1 (February 1998)About the AuthorBrian Wansink (Ph.D. Stanford University) is a Professor of Business of Nutritional Science, of Advertising, and of Agricultural & Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. After working with an ad agency and the Small Business Administration, he earned his Ph.D. in marketing at Stanford (1990) and was a marketing professor at the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College (1990-1994), the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (1994-1995), and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (1995-1997) before moving to Illinois to establish a research program that uniquely focuses on mature packaged goods. Dr. Wansink's expertise is directed toward revitalizing mature brands. Specifically, he focuses on determining the types of ads, promotions, and packages that will increase the usage frequency and usage volume of mature packaged goods. The Food and Brand Lab was founded in 1992 by Professor Wansink. It consists of 15 interdisciplinary researchers at the University of Illinois along with 3 test kitchens, 5 cooperating supermarkets, and a panel of 3,000 consumers. Research is independently funded by grants, consumer groups, and companies. It all focuses on better understanding consumers and how they relate to foods and packaged foods.

An Anchoring and Adjustment Model of Purchase Quantity Decisions

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