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Latent demand and the browsing shopper
Author(s) -
Earl Peter E,
Potts Jason
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
managerial and decision economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.288
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1099-1468
pISSN - 0143-6570
DOI - 10.1002/mde.976
Subject(s) - introspection , variety (cybernetics) , cognition , psychology , computer science , marketing , cognitive psychology , advertising , business , artificial intelligence , neuroscience
This article explores ways of making sense of unplanned purchases on shopping expeditions without seeing shopping as lacking any systematic foundations or reflecting some kind of pathology. The analysis employs both introspection and inputs from cognitive science and focuses on shifts from planned search to browsing in response to promotional cues encountered whilst navigating malls that are designed to promote browsing behaviour. Browsing is examined both in terms of its socio‐psychological foundations and with respect to a variety of kinds of latent demand. The economic psychology of attention is examined as are a variety of factors that bring browsing processes to a close. The paper concludes with a discussion of the significance of the analysis in terms of the path dependence of economic systems. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.