The Relationship between Purchase Guidance and the Type of Discount and its Effects on the Consumers’ Probability of Purchasing

Abstract

Previous research has indicated the effective use of sales promotions as a marketing tool. Thus, marketers and retailers need to understand what type of promotion is the most appropriate and which is the most effective way to adopt within a competitive market. Thus, the concept of “shopping orientation” emerges which lists the type of discount offered to a consumer. This study seeks to contribute to elucidate this gap, since little has been studied about how sales promotions interact with the guidance of consumer purchasing. This research conducted three studies to show that the type of discount offered with sales promotions influences the relationship between shopping orientation whether experiential or focused on the task and the likelihood of consumer purchasing. The results indicate that consumers in the purchase experiential orientation condition (vs. task-focused) are more likely to buy when they are exposed to uncertainty (vs. certain) discount. This study contributes to the issues related to promotion of monetary sales, discount uncertainty and shopping orientation.