ABSTRACT
Assortment is traditionally de ned as the number of products o ered within a single product category (Levy & Weitz, 2001). Considerable consumer research has examined the in uence of the choice set on consumer decision making (see Payne, Bettman, & Johnson, 1993). ese task and context e ects though have typically been limited to small choice sets containing only three to six options. Yet, the size of product assortments confronting consumers has exploded in recent years with sprawling supermarkets, the entry of specialty category stores such as Best Buy electronics, and the advent of the Internet. For instance, the typical supermarket carries over 100 types of toothpastes varying on brand names (Colgate, Crest, Mentadent), bene ts (tartar control, whitening, breath-freshening, sensitive), avors (mint, cinnamon, citrus), and forms (gel, paste). Best Buy carries 183 televisions varying on brand names (Philips, RCA, Sony, Toshiba), display types (directview, at panel, LCD, rear-projection, plasma), screen sizes (5”–50”), resolution (EDTV, HDTV, standard), and aspect ratio (16:9, 4:3). Increasing assortments are also evident in such consequential decisions as the 73 options for Medicare discount prescription cards (Salganik, 2004) and the 25% growth in options available in 401(k) plans over the past few years (Mottola & Utkus, 2003).
