How mindset and store familiarity impact online stockout responses

Abstract

PurposeEffects of stockouts on purchase decisions have been examined from a variety of perspectives; little is yet known about how consumers react to stockouts in online shopping contexts. The present study investigates how stockout reactions depend on a consumer's mindset and familiarity with a website and investigates the role of negative affect in determining a consumer's stockout reaction.Design/methodology/approachShopping mindsets (deliberative vs. implemental) and website familiarity (high vs. low) were manipulated in an online experiment consisting of a simulated shopping task at an existing website which next was presented as having a stockout. The study observed the participants' switching responses and measured their negative affect.FindingsFindings indicate that when encountering an online stockout, consumers in an implemental mindset are more likely to switch away from the website than those in a deliberative mindset and are more likely to search for additional items at a competing site. Consumers who are more familiar with the website where they encounter the stockout display a higher likelihood of defecting to a competing site; however, when they are in an implemental mindset, their inclination to defect decreases. The study also shows that the strength of negative emotions affects OOS responses in that buyers that experience more negative emotions are more likely to defect from the site.Practical implicationsThe study's findings provide suggestions as to how retailers can manage and minimize defection behaviours associated with online stockouts. In designing operational and marketing strategies retailers need to pay close attention to how consumers' individual mindsets may vary by trait or circumstance and how they hence may respond differently to stockouts.Originality/valueThe authors introduce a novel perspective to the literature on stockout induced reactions and contribute by furthering investigation into previously unexplored specific consumer characteristics and intricacies of stockouts that drive particular stockout reactions.