Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 22, 2026
08:24
Choice and No-Choice Assays for Testing the Resistance of A. thaliana to Chewing Insects
Published on: May 14, 2008
17.6K
Forgo or Go for One? The Unavailable Effect in Non-comparable Choice Sets
Frontiers in Psychology
|June 28, 2019
Summary
Understanding consumer behavior when products are unavailable is key. Activating a "which-to-buy" mindset increases purchase intention for remaining items, unlike a "whether-to-buy" mindset.
Area of Science:
- Consumer Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Marketing Science
Background:
- Consumer choice behavior is significantly influenced by the availability of options.
- Understanding the psychological underpinnings of consumer responses to unavailable items is crucial for retailers.
- Goal-related mindsets theory provides a framework for analyzing consumer decision-making processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of unavailable options on consumer purchase behavior within non-comparable choice sets.
- To explore the role of goal-related mindsets (which-to-buy vs. whether-to-buy) in moderating responses to product unavailability.
- To identify boundary conditions and practical applications for managing consumer mindsets in retail environments.
Main Methods:
- Four between-subject experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses.
- Study 1 established the link between consumer mindset and purchase choice with unavailable options.
- Studies 2, 3, and 4 examined underlying mechanisms (construal level) and boundary conditions (shopping cart state, payment type).
Main Results:
- Consumers with an activated 'which-to-buy' mindset exhibited higher purchase intention for remaining options compared to those with a 'whether-to-buy' mindset.
- An empty shopping cart activated the 'whether-to-buy' mindset, reducing purchase intention, moderated by habitual purchase behavior.
- Using gift cards (vs. gifted cash) activated the 'which-to-buy' mindset, increasing purchase intention, particularly for products high in feasibility.
Conclusions:
- Retailers can strategically manage consumer mindsets by optimizing the presentation of unavailable information.
- Activating the 'which-to-buy' mindset can mitigate the negative impact of unavailable options and boost sales of remaining products.
- Insights offer practical guidance for both online and offline retailers to enhance sales strategies under conditions of product unavailability.
Related Concept Videos
01:20Mate Choice
11.7K
Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
11.7K
01:19Personal Choice and Fate Attributions
164
Some individuals interpret life events as a consequence of their personal choices and actions, while others believe that outcomes are dictated by fate or destiny. This divergence in perspective has been examined in psychological and cross-cultural studies, particularly in relation to religious faith and cultural beliefs about causality.Fate and Personal ResponsibilityPeople who emphasize personal responsibility view events as direct consequences of their decisions. For instance, breaking a leg...
164
02:26Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs
18.6K
Sequencing of the human genome has opened up several best-kept secrets of the genome. Scientists have identified thousands of genome variations that exist within a population. These variations can be a single nucleotide or a larger chromosomal variation.
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...
18.6K
01:12Setting Time of Cement
619
The setting time of cement refers to the process of cement paste transitioning from a plastic state to a solid state. This process is crucial in construction as it dictates the timeframe for concrete placement, compaction, and finishing. The onset of this solidification is termed the initial set, indicating when the paste becomes unworkable. The final set is when the paste has solidified completely, and further handling or manipulation can no longer affect its shape. The cement strength is...
619
01:20Comparing the Survival Analysis of Two or More Groups
573
Survival analysis is a cornerstone of medical research, used to evaluate the time until an event of interest occurs, such as death, disease recurrence, or recovery. Unlike standard statistical methods, survival analysis is particularly adept at handling censored data—instances where the event has not occurred for some participants by the end of the study or remains unobserved. To address these unique challenges, specialized techniques like the Kaplan-Meier estimator, log-rank test, and...
573
01:09Comparing Experimental Results: Student's t-Test
5.2K
The t-test is a statistical method used to compare the sample mean with a population mean or compare two means from two data sets. The test statistic is calculated from the standard deviation, mean, and number of measurements in the data set at a selected confidence interval and then compared to a table of critical values at this confidence level. If the test statistic is smaller than the critical value, the null hypothesis is accepted. In this case, we state that the difference between the...
5.2K