Essay On Shoppers Purchase

It is likely that shoppers that “fixated on deals and discount often purchase things that are not truly satisfying”. (Kit 2013) Think about the situation where shoppers buy things that they shouldn't when sales occurs. The items bought might not be that necessary, desirable or useful for the shoppers. For instance, you might buy a pair of discounted neon green heels that you probably would not end up wearing. You might also end up buying four cartons of Coke cans that you can't possibly finish them all because the promotion requires the four cartons purchase at once. Such behaviours are often observed during sales seasons like Boxing Day. Therefore, this essay is to study the impact of sales and promotion on shoppers purchase decision. The prediction is that general shoppers are more likely to make less desirable purchases when shopping on sales and discounted merchandise.

The shopping behaviour is anomalous because it violates the rational choice theory. The theory is based on utility maximization and cost minimization. Shoppers are definitely minimizing costs on discounted items. However, how happy or satisfied are the shoppers with their purchases? You purchase the neon green heels but you actual preference might be the similar red heels that is on regular price. You satisfaction are not fully optimized here because you are forgoing your preferred colour choice for a lower price. The theory also assumes that consumer preferred more to less goods. Perhaps you would have been more satisfied if you can purchase just two cartons of cokes on promotion instead of four cartons at once.

The plausible explanation for the anomaly is loss aversion. Kaherman and Taversky (1984 343) study shows that “a loss is more aversive than a gain ...

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...equire the recreation of a fictional store, which is costly and difficult to control. It is also not feasible to expect subjects to conduct the experiment with a saving mindset for the framing effect. Hence, this experiment is to focus on whether loss aversion is the factor for less desirable purchase under sales conditions.

It is probable that “the products (shoppers) purchase, bring home, and live with are in some ways secondary” (Kit 2013) compared to the thrill of obtaining “an irresistible bargain” during sales. The rational choice theory is not suitable in explaining such behaviour, as the decision making factor is not just purely good and price. Loss aversion and framing effect are perhaps better explanation for less desirable purchase during sales. A well-designed experiment would be helpful in studying the behavioural motivation for such purchase decision.