The effect of measuring intent on brand-level purchase behavior

Previous research has demonstrated that merely asking consumers purchase intent questions has a significant impact on their actual purchase incidence in the category. Our article extends this research to explore the impact of the "mere-measurement" effect at the brand level. We hypothesize that there are predictable patterns of brand-level purchase effects that depend on whether a consumer has previously made a purchase in the product category. The results demonstrate that current owners of cars are more likely to repurchase the brands they currently own when they are asked intent questions. In addition, the purchase behavior of current car owners is more consistent with their brand attitudes when they are asked intent questions. First-time car buyers, on the other hand, are more likely to purchase brands that have large market shares when asked intent questions. Finally, we discuss both the implications of these results and opportunities for future research.

Duke Scholars

Author Gavan J. Fitzsimons Fuqua School of Business