“We are out of toilet paper”: Testing the mediating effect of product scarcity on consumers’ competitive arousal in family firms

Francesca Serravalle, Gazi Mahabubul Alam and Elisa Giacosa

Journal of Business Research, 2023, vol. 164, issue C

Abstract: Drawing on Lemon and Verhoef’s customer journey, this study examines the context of local family businesses to investigate product scarcity’s role as a mediator between information overload and competitive arousal in affecting consumers’ behavioural intentions during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected regarding purchases in three famous local family businesses operating in the Food and Beverage sector in the North of Italy. Results reveal that during a sanitary emergency, the consumer in family firms are less inclined to react impulsively than those in large distribution, except when they perceive product scarcity, which increases their level of competitiveness towards the market and other consumers.

Keywords: Customer journey; Family firms; Information overload; Product scarcity; Competitive arousal; Impulse buying (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:164:y:2023:i:c:s0148296323003703

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114012

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