Summary Great expectations?! Assortment size, expectations, and satisfaction (Diehl, Poynor)

Great Expectations!? Assortment Size, Expectations and Satissaction
Diehl & Poynor

This articl lxaminls how lxplitatons glnlratld by varying assortmlnt sizls infllnils ionslmlrs’
satsfaiton with thlir ihoiils.c

Theoretical backgronnd
Having many ihoiils is ofln slln as onl of thl most important aihilvlmlnts of dlvlcopld marklt
lionomils.c Howlvlr, this articl slgglsts a morl iompclx rlcatonship bltwlln assortmlnt sizl,
lxplitatons and satsfaiton.c

Satissaction: thl post-dliision lvaclaton of a prodlit or lxplrilnil.c
Expectations: prldiitons abolt thl fltlrl.c Can rangl from glnlrac blcilfs to spliifi prodlit
iharaitlristis.c

Wl argll that assortmlnt sizl aflits ionslmlrs' lxplitatons abolt thlir abicity to matih thlir
lxistng prlflrlnils blialsl ionslmlrs prlflr ihoosing from carglr, morl varild, assortmlnts.c

Hypothesis 1: carglr (vs.c smacclr) assortmlnts hlightln ionslmlrs’ lxplitatons rlgarding thlir
abicity to matih thlir prlflrlnils.c

Disconfirmation: whln lxplitld and plrilivld prodlit oflrings do not matih (nlgatvl or
positvl).c Larglr assortmlnt sizl ian havl two lflits on disionfrmaton:
 Prior lxplitatons arl highlr, so thl ciklcihood of nlgatvl disionfrmaton is highlr;
 Morl variaton in itlms, so morl ihanil to matih prlflrlnils, so thl ciklcihood of nlgatvl
disionfrmaton is cowlr.c
Howlvlr, rlslarih has shown that as assortmlnt sizl inirlasls, thl dlgrll to whiih ionslmlrs
rlacizl bltlr prlflrlnil matihls may not risl to thl saml lxtlnt as thlir lxplitatons.c

Actholgh ihoiils from a cargl slt may clad to positvl disionfrmaton, it wicc bl smacc givln thl
rlcatvlcy high lxplitaton.c In iontrast, smacclr assortmlnts do not hlightln lxplitatons thl way
carglr assortmlnt do.c Thlrlforl, a ihoiil may glnlratl grlatlr positvl disionfrmaton whln it is
ihosln from a smacclr rathlr than a carglr slt.c

Hypothesis 2: ionslmlrs arl clss satsfld with a givln oltioml whln thly slclit thl opton from a
carglr rathlr than a smacclr slt.c
Hypothesis 3: ionslmlrs lxplrilnil grlatlr nlgatvl or clss positvl disionfrmaton whln thly
slclit a givln itlm from a carglr rathlr than a smacclr slt.c
Hypothesis 4: grlatlr nlgatvl or clss positvl lxplitaton disionfrmaton mldiatls thl lflit of
carglr rathlr than smacclr assortmlnts on satsfaiton with a ihosln itlm.c

Informaton ovlrcoad ian cowlr ionslmlrs' ciklcihood of plrihasing from carglr assortmlnts.c Rlgrlt
may dlirlasl satsfaiton whln itlms arl ihosln from carglr rathlr than smacclr slts.c

Stndy 1
Method
Partiipants wlrl tocd that thly wlrl cooking for a glnlrii birthday iard that wolcd bl ionsidlrld
tastlflc by most plopcl and that thly wlrl going to a shop whlrl thly socd lithlr 10 or 100 iards.c
Thly thln lxprlssld thlir lxplitatons of thl atainabcl prlflrlnil matih.c Thln acc partiipants saw
thl saml iard and wlrl askld to imaginl that thly had slclitld that iard.c Partiipants indiiatld
thlir satsfaiton.c