The interrelationships between brand and channel choice

Abstract

The Interrelationships between Brand and Channel ChoiceWe propose a framework for the joint study of the consumer's decision of where to buy and what to buy. The framework is rooted in utility theory where the utility is for a particular channel/brand combination. The framework contains firm actions, the consumer search process, the choice process, and consumer learning. We develop research questions within each of these areas. We then discuss methodological issues pertaining to the use of experimentation and econometrics. Our framework suggests that brand and channel choices are closely intertwined, and therefore studying them jointly will reveal a deeper understanding of consumer decisionmaking in the modern marketing environment.Keywords: brand choice, channel choice, learning, utility theory 3 The Interrelationships between Brand and Channel ChoiceThroughout the post-industrial era, consumers have been faced with the decision of choosing brands. Levi's or Wrangler? Apple or Samsung? The last decade has seen a proliferation of channels through which firms interact with customers. Levi's, Wrangler, as well as Apple and Samsung can be purchased online, in bricks-and-mortar stores, or through catalogs. Platform retailing arrangements that give brands direct access to consumers are also becoming increasingly popular, both offline, such as "stores within a store" (Jerath and Zhang 2010), and online, such as Amazon Marketplace. Thus, today's consumer must choose both a brand and a channel. The question is how brand and channel choices are interrelated. We advocate that this question presents an opportunity to learn in more depth how consumers make decisions in the modern marketing environment.There has been much research on brand choice, dating at least to Kuehn and Rohloff (1967), continuing through Guadagni and Little (1983). See Russell (2014) for a history of the development of this field. Recently there has been a growing literature on channel choice (Thomas and Sullivan 2005;Valentini et al. 2011). However, to our knowledge there is little research that integrates brand and channel choice.One might argue that channel and brand choice could just be studied separately. Yet, researchers have found that consumers make different choices depending on which channel they use (Danaher et al. 2003), that marketing induces consumers to switch channels (Ansari et al. 2008) and that brand and channel perceptions together determine purchase intentions (Dodds et al. 1991). This suggests that the two processes are intertwined. Certainly managers are concerned with how to manage their brands across channels. Therefore, while the field is not well-4 developed, we believe there is significant academic and managerial motivation for studying the interrelationships between brand and channel choice. In particular, our objectives are to: § develop a framework for studying the interrelationships between channel and brand choice, § utilize the framework to generate research topics, and § discuss methodological challenges i...

The New Paradigm of the Omnichannel Retailing: Key Drivers, New Challenges and Potential Outcomes Resulting from the Adoption of an Omnichannel Approach

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Customer Showrooming Behavior and the Effect on Salesperson Performance

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