{"title":"Not-so-speedy delivery: Should retailers use discounts or donations to incentivize consumers to choose delayed delivery?","authors":"Katie Kelting , Stefanie Robinson , Stacy Wood","doi":"10.1016/j.jretai.2024.09.002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many retailers feel the pressure to provide increasingly speedy delivery, but the realities of speedy delivery logistics are costly, complicated, and uncertain. In response, retailers have been using discounts to nudge consumers’ voluntary choice of a slower delivery option, but with tepid results. The current research argues that a better incentive exists. Data from six studies demonstrate that changing from a discount (the retailer giving the consumer a $1 reward/coupon) to a donation (the retailer donating $1 to a charity) incentive significantly increases the voluntary choice of delayed delivery. Importantly, the data shows that exchange equity drives this effect. However, two boundary conditions are identified: 1) the retailer communicating a reason for the delayed delivery and 2) the type of product being purchased by the consumer. In sum, the current research provides actionable insights for retailers that offer a delayed delivery option to consumers during checkout and speaks to the current debate about consumers’ desire for speedy delivery.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48402,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing","volume":"100 4","pages":"Pages 565-582"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Retailing","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022435924000630","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Many retailers feel the pressure to provide increasingly speedy delivery, but the realities of speedy delivery logistics are costly, complicated, and uncertain. In response, retailers have been using discounts to nudge consumers’ voluntary choice of a slower delivery option, but with tepid results. The current research argues that a better incentive exists. Data from six studies demonstrate that changing from a discount (the retailer giving the consumer a $1 reward/coupon) to a donation (the retailer donating $1 to a charity) incentive significantly increases the voluntary choice of delayed delivery. Importantly, the data shows that exchange equity drives this effect. However, two boundary conditions are identified: 1) the retailer communicating a reason for the delayed delivery and 2) the type of product being purchased by the consumer. In sum, the current research provides actionable insights for retailers that offer a delayed delivery option to consumers during checkout and speaks to the current debate about consumers’ desire for speedy delivery.
期刊介绍:
The focus of The Journal of Retailing is to advance knowledge and its practical application in the field of retailing. This includes various aspects such as retail management, evolution, and current theories. The journal covers both products and services in retail, supply chains and distribution channels that serve retailers, relationships between retailers and supply chain members, and direct marketing as well as emerging electronic markets for households. Articles published in the journal may take an economic or behavioral approach, but all are based on rigorous analysis and a deep understanding of relevant theories and existing literature. Empirical research follows the scientific method, employing modern sampling procedures and statistical analysis.