1. Hoch, Stephen J., Eric L. Bradlow, and Brian Wansink (1999), “The Variety of Assortment,” Marketing Science, Vol. 18:4, 527-546. The Variety of Assortment: Can You Choose to Have Choices? Customers prefer to have a variety of choices and they prefer this variety to be organized. Under these conditions, customers will be more likely to buy more, enjoy their shopping experience, and return to the store for future visits.

2. How Do People Perceive Variety? Hoch, Stephen J., Eric L. Bradlow, and Brian Wansink (1999), “The Variety of Assortment,” Marketing Science, Vol. 18:4, 527-546. Top 3 reasons people choose to shop at a certain grocery store: Why is variety important? Shoppers would rather go to a store and find exactly what they want Variety offers consumers options when they are uncertain in their purchases People desire to consume different alternatives on different occasions Downside for grocery stores: variety increases R&D, manufacturing, distribution, and sales costs What influences variety perceptions? 1.Total space devoted 2.Number of SKUs offered 3.Whether the assortment includes the consumer’s favorite brand 1. Location2. Price3. Variety

3. Hoch, Stephen J., Eric L. Bradlow, and Brian Wansink (1999), “The Variety of Assortment,” Marketing Science, Vol. 18:4, 527-546. Do You Choose to Have Variety? People are more likely to choose stores offering high variety and an organized display Item sales are 3 times more sensitive to location than display space (eye level, middle of display is best) Close pairs of objects are more likely to be compared than pairs that are farther apart Major Findings: Uniqueness of items is key: duplicates in an assortment decrease perceived variety People are more influenced by items that are close together (adjacent) During analytic processing, organized displays are perceived as having more variety; during holistic processing, random displays are perceived as more varied People are more satisfied with and more likely to shop at stores that are perceived as having high variety and being organized

4. Hoch, Stephen J., Eric L. Bradlow, and Brian Wansink (1999), “The Variety of Assortment,” Marketing Science, Vol. 18:4, 527-546. Learn the “Tricks” of Variety Stores can design displays to be more efficient and lower cost without reducing the variety increase probability of future store visits by customers Customers can learn the “tricks” of variety and assortment so that they do not make biased choices based on the store’s environment Have more variety of foods at home Increased consumption of food Purchase more groceries Increased satisfaction with grocery store More variety in the grocery store Increase in profits

5. Hoch, Stephen J., Eric L. Bradlow, and Brian Wansink (1999), “The Variety of Assortment,” Marketing Science, Vol. 18:4, 527-546. To learn more about these tips and others that can help you live a healthy life visit: www.mindlesseating.com http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/ Variety Show: What Else is There to Know? Check Out These Other Articles on Variety: Hoch, Stephen J., Eric L. Bradlow, and Brian Wansink (2002), “Rejoinder to ‘The Variety of an Assortment: An Extension to the Attribute-Based Approach’” Marketing Science, 21:3 (Summer), 320- 324. “The Influence of Assortment Structure on Perceived Variety and Consumption Quantities,” Kahn, Barbara E. and Brian Wansink, Journal of Consumer Research, 30:4 (March), 519-533 © 2004, University of Chicago Press, http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JCR/home.htmlThe Influence of Assortment Structure on Perceived Variety and Consumption Quantities, http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JCR/home.htm Created By: Lauren Faldet