The Perils of Category Management: The Effect of Product Assortment on Multicategory Purchase Incidence

Retailers determine the assortment for a mix of product categories in a particular space (e.g., the checkout aisle, endcaps, freezer space). Within such a “target” space, shoppers are exposed to a selection of product categories that are not necessarily correlated in consumption. In this article, the authors examine whether the assortment of one category affects consumers’ purchase incidence decision in another, independent category that shares...