The Role of Purchase Quantity in Assortment Choice : The Quantity-Matching Heuristic

This article examines how consumers' purchase-quantity goals influence their choice of an assortment. It documents that consumers are more likely to choose an assortment when its size matches the desired purchase quantity - a strategy referred to as the quantity-matching heuristic. The reliance on the purchase-quantity heuristic is attributed to consumers' desire to simplify the decision process by eliminating the need to trade off the benefits and costs of individual choice alternatives. The theoretical predictions are supported by data from five experiments that offer converging evidence for the role of purchase-quantity goals in assortment choice and identify moderating factors and boundary conditions