MIT Libraries homeMIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Doctoral Theses
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Doctoral Theses
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Essays on consumer behavior in retail stores

Author(s)
Cho, Edward Ku
Thumbnail
DownloadFull printable version (5.329Mb)
Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics.
Advisor
Sara Ellison and Duncan Simester.
Terms of use
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
This dissertation is a collection of three empirical essays in industrial organization using data from an anonymous retailer. All these chapters examine some facet of consumer behavior. The first chapter estimates demand for store and national brand over-the-counter pain relievers. There is evidence that the substitution patterns between store and national brands are starkly asymmetric- price cuts by national brands steal more share from store brands than store brand price cuts steal share from national brands. Another distinguishing characteristic between store and national brand products is that store brands can be found at only one retailer while national brands are found virtually anywhere. I find that an increase in the number of competing local retailers is associated with an increase (decrease) in store brand (national brand) share, which is consistent with the unique availability of store brands. In the second chapter, I investigate consumer inventory behavior and find that the increase in quantity resulting from a sale is in large part due to stockpiling motives. For example, using field experiment data, the estimated increase in consumption (net of stockpiling) is close to zero for the product categories mouthwash, diapers, and chocolate. I also identify a selection bias when one uses store-level data to estimate the impact of price on quantity. The third chapter evaluates the effectiveness of lowering prices versus just claiming prices are lower on demand, and how this relates to consumer price knowledge. Using a large-scale field test in which we varied both actual price (in the absence of any cue) and claimed price, we find that the response of these two effects is positively correlated.
 
(cont.) A likely explanation for this positive correlation is that customers simply care more about the prices of some products than others. Also, customers respond more to low prices on items for which they have good price knowledge, but respond more to low price claims when their price knowledge is poor, although this is a second order effect.
 
Description
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 2007.
 
Includes bibliographical references.
 
Date issued
2007
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/41715
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Economics.

Collections
  • Doctoral Theses

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries homeMIT Libraries logo

Find us on

Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube RSS

MIT Libraries navigation

SearchHours & locationsBorrow & requestResearch supportAbout us
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibility
MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.