Testing behavioral hypotheses using an integrated model of grocery store shopping path and purchase behavior

We examine three sets of established behavioral hypotheses about consumers’ in-store behavior using field data on grocery store shopping paths and purchases. Our results provide field evidence for the following empirical regularities. First, as consumers spend more time in the store, they become more purposeful—they are less likely to spend time on exploration and more likely to shop/buy. Second, consistent with “licensing ” behavior, after purchasing virtue categories, consumers are more likely to shop at locations that carry vice categories. Third, the presence of other shoppers attracts consumers toward a store zone but reduces consumers’ tendency to shop there. Studying consumers ’ in-store behavior is an importanttopic for academic researchers and industry practitioners alike. Researchers are particularly interested in better under-standing the factors that drive the dynamics of a consumer’s shopping trip. For instance, how does a consumer’s in-store behavior evolve (i) as she spends more time in the store, (ii) as she buys certain types of products, and (iii) as she react