The Effect of Purchase Quantity and Timing on Variety-Seeking Behavior
研究了消费者一次性购买多件商品与分次购买对寻求多样性行为的影响，发现一次性购买多件商品会导致更多样化的选择，原因包括对未来偏好的不确定性和简化决策的愿望。
Two consumer strategies for the purchase of multiple items from a product class are contrasted. In one strategy (simultaneous choices/sequential consumption), the consumer buys several items on one shopping trip and consumes the items over several consumption occasions. In the other strategy (sequential choices/sequential consumption), the consumer buys one item at a time, just before each consumption occasion. The first strategy is posited to yield more variety seeking than the second. The greater variety seeking is attributed to forces operating in the simultaneous choices/sequential consumption strategy, including uncertainty about future preferences and a desire to simplify the decision. Evidence from three studies, two involving real products and choices, is consistent with these conjectures. The implications and limitations of the results are discussed.