Revisiting the paradox of whether retail buyers behave more like consumers or industrial purchasers: the case of price discounts

Jyrki Isojärvi, Jaakko Aspara () and Reza Movarrei
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Jyrki Isojärvi: Aalto University Executive Education
Jaakko Aspara: Hanken School of Economics
Reza Movarrei: Hanken School of Economics

Marketing Letters, 2022, vol. 33, issue 3, No 11, 499-521

Abstract: Abstract A long-lasting debate in marketing literature is whether retail buyers who purchase consumer products behave like consumers or like industrial purchasing managers. We address this question empirically, by focusing on retail buyers’ behavioral responses to price discounts. Cooperating with a national wholesaler of drugstore products, we conduct a field experiment on the wholesaler’s product ordering platform. We expose the retail buyers (n = 780) to a new product offer that either includes a price discount or not. Simultaneously, we vary peripheral cues included in the offer (package color and organic claim). The results support the “industrial buyer resemblance” argument: The price discount decreases the retail buyers’ purchase likelihood, and there is no significant interaction effect between the price discount and the peripheral cues. An additional qualitative study reveals that retail buyers speculate on the motivations behind the price discount, which elicits suspicions about the product’s quality and resale potential.

Keywords: Retail buyers; Price promotion; Price discount; Peripheral cues; Consumer; Industrial buyer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s11002-022-09634-7

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