Should Retailers Integrate Assortments Across Channels to Drive Customer Loyalty?

Building on the concept of diagnosticity, this study investigates through which mechanisms and in which conditions channel assortment integration influences customer loyalty. Results of a 3 (channel structure: full, asymmetrical, none) x 3 (assortment structure: substitutive, complementary, independent) experimental study with 959 participants show that structures are regarded as diagnostic by customers, in that they infer potential benefits from these cues, which mediate the link between structures and loyalty. Whereas full integration enhances loyalty across all assortment structures, asymmetrical integration can have detrimental effects, in particular, for substitutive relations and for customers' high on personal need for structure. Researchers and managers can use our findings to understand the effectiveness of the diverse approaches of channel integration.