The primary goal of this research was to investigate how consumers respond to product unavailability from the perspective of discrepancy-evaluation theory of emotion. This research consists of two studies employing a randomized experiment using a mock website simulating online apparel shopping. In a 2 (timing of notification about stockout: before or after) x 2 (item preference: not preferred or preferred) x 2 (frequency of stockout: once or twice) complete between subjects factorial design, Study 1 examined: (1) the effects of timing, preference, and frequency of product unavailability on negative emotion elicited, (2) structural relationships among negative emotion, perception of store image, decision satisfaction, and behavioral intent, and (3) the moderating role of timing, preference, and frequency on the process by which product unavailability influences consumer response. Eight hundred twenty female college students participated in the simulated online apparel shopping Web experiment for Study 1, in which they experienced a different level of product unavailability as a function of timing, preference, and frequency of product unavailability. In a one factor (managerial response) between-subjects design with four levels (standard, substitute, backorder, or financial response), Study 2 explored the effect of four retail management responses on consumer responses to stockouts. Two hundred thirty-four female college students participated in another simulated online shopping Web experiment developed for Study 2, in which they received one of the four managerial responses at the time they encountered stockouts.;The findings from Study 1 revealed: (1) main effects for timing, preference, and frequency on negative emotion; (2) three two-way interaction effects for timing, preference, and frequency on negative emotion; (3) the effects of negative emotion on perception of store image, decision satisfaction, and behavioral intent; (4) the effect of negative emotion on behavioral intent mediated by perceptions of store image and decision satisfaction; (5) the varied relationship between store image and behavioral intent as a function of timing, preference, and frequency, and (6) the varied relationship between negative emotion and store image, store image and behavioral intent, and decision satisfaction and behavioral intent as a function of three two-way interactions among timing, preference, and frequency. The findings from Study 2 showed the effect of managerial response on negative emotion, perceptions of store image, and behavioral intent.;The findings of these studies add to the extant literature on stockouts by providing (1) empirical support for the proposed model that illustrates the process by which product unavailability influences consumer response, (2) theoretical insight to understand the stockout phenomena from the perspective of the discrepancy-evaluation theory of emotion, and (3) retail management strategies that retailers can adopt to alleviate the negative impact of stockouts.
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