Retailer-brand collaborations: testing key strategies to increase consumers' urgency to buy

Abstract

PurposeRetailer-brand collaborations (e.g. Target–Lilly Pulitzer) attract media attention and generate excitement, and may encourage buying the product right away rather than waiting until a sale. To clearly establish factors that contribute to consumers' urge to purchase retailer-brand collaborations, the purpose of this study is to test the effects of: (1) collaboration duration (limited edition vs ongoing) and (2) perceived retailer-brand fit (high vs low) on consumers' urgency to buy.Design/methodology/approachThree experimental studies (n = 499) manipulate and test the effect of collaboration duration (Study 1), perceived retailer-brand fit (Study 2) and the combined effect (Study 3) on consumers' urgency to buy.FindingsFindings indicate that urgency to buy retailer-brand collaborations are favourable when products are offered as limited edition versus ongoing (Study 1), when there is high-perceived fit versus low-perceived fit between retailer and brand partners (Study 2) and when both conditions are true (Study 3).Practical implicationsTo enhance consumers' urgency to buy retailer-brand collaborations, the partnerships should be limited in duration (vs collaborating in an ongoing fashion). Additionally brands and retailers need to strategically align with well-fitting partners.Originality/valueDespite the prevalence and success of retailer-brand collaborations in industry, research on such collaboration is surprising scant. Additionally, while previous studies often measure purchase intentions as consumers' response, an understanding of factors that discourage consumers from delaying their purchase (i.e. factors that lead to urgency to buy) help to identify strategies to cultivate greater profits.

An Experimental Study of Retailer-Brand Collaboration: Duration and Perceived Fit Towards Consumer Behavior

“…Previous study also proves that implementing a scarcity strategy in a collaboration can result in intense purchasing behavior among consumers, such as impulsive buying [3]. This buying behavior causes make an unplanned purchase, triggered by emotions.…”

“…Figure 1 depicts the theoretical frameworks used in this study. It was adapted from [3]. In reference to the previous literature finding that retailers must decide the duration of the collaboration and consider the fit between the collaborating retailer and brand to produce urgent consumers' behavioral intention, such as urgency to buy, we investigate each factor's direct effect, the interaction of two factors, and the interaction of two factors on the urgency to buy.…”

“…Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 177 Figure 1 Research Framework [3]…”

“…In addition, the decline is also predicted to occur due to the behavior of department store consumers who tend to delay purchases and wait for the desired product to be sold at a discount [2]. Such buying behavior put retailers in an unfavorable position, because not only do consumers choose to delay purchases, but they also prefer to pay half p rice, which causes the slowing sales growth [2] [3].…”

“…In recent research, Euro monitor provided insights into how department stores in Indonesia can survive the retail industry competition, that is, to gain a new competitive advantage [1]. A previous study showed that one of the strategies that can give department stores a new competitive advantage is collaborating with wellknown brands, especially among target consumers [3]. Through collaboration, retailers can increase their competitive advantage, while brands can attract attention and publicity [4] [5].…”