Maik Walter

This research posits that lower proximity among popular objects promotes exploration and reduces fixation effects (i.e., consideration of a limited number of alternatives). Yet, with the ironic effect that larger search effort increases consumer expenses. We provide evidence for this theorizing across various field and lab settings, and assortment formats.

This research examines how variations in a product display affect consumers’ choice of more novel product alternatives. We integrate prior work on learning behavior and assortment presentation and propose that an unstructured display format (i.e., via a random arrangement of the product assortment or by presenting familiar products in the non-foveal area of search) provokes greater exploratory search behavior of consumers which increases their (objective) product knowledge and makes them ultimately more likely to choose a novel product alternative. We provide large-scale evidence for this theorizing across various field and lab settings. These findings have important implications for research on exploratory product search and the effective design of product assortments―from both a retail and consumer welfare perspective.