Influencing Unplanned Discretionary Purchases Through Shopper Marketing: An Exploratory Field Study of Australian Oysters

Abstract This paper studies the effectiveness of shopper marketing strategies on influencing unplanned discretionary purchases. This is achieved through a real-world exploratory field study of a retail product, oysters, promoted through a shopper marketing campaign over 10 weeks. In-store demonstrations, presentation trays, information leaflets and posters are employed to influence shopper behavior instore. Data is collected through a triangulation approach from sales reports, consumer responses and retailer interviews. Results indicate that shopper marketing is effective at influencing sales with in-store demonstrations creating the greatest influence.