Abstract:

There exist studies that focus on the possible negative emotion (depression for instance) brought by mere concentration on out-of-stock. Or others solely study on the attractive effect induced by phantom alternative. What effect, positive or negative, will out-of-stock alternative impact on the purchase intention of similar alternative is still without a definite conclusion. This paper holds that there is not a certain positive or negative effect on the similar alternative purchase intention. Also, a dual mediation pathway model and relevant moderator of such influence mechanism are proposed. Our research shows that when offered the out-of-stock alternative, consumers seem to experience the stronger emotion of perceived scarcity and psychological reactance compared with no information offered. The effects of out-of-stock message on consumers’ similar alternative purchase intention mediated by scarcity and psychological reactance separately are opposite (positive versus negative). In addition, the negative effect mediated by psychological reactance is moderated by the occupation levels of cognitive resource. Psychological reactance is a moderated mediator. Whereas, the positive mediating effect of perceived scarcity is not affected.

Key words: out-of-stock, perceived scarcity, psychological reactance, dual mediation model, similar alternative purchase intention