Modeling situational factors in variety seeking behaviour: an extension of the lightning bolt model

Abstract

Variety seeking behavior and its corollary, purchase reinforcement have been looked at from diverse viewpoints in marketing literature. One specific viewpoint has involved looking at the effects of variety seeking behavior on purchase behavior and brand preference. In the area of marketing modeling, variety seeking behavior has been looked at as a consequence of attribute satiation and inherent user preferences. However, the effect of situational variables on variety seeking behavior has often been overlooked. Chintagunta (1999) has made use of the lightning bolt model (Roy, Chintagunta, & Haldar, 1996) to isolate the effects of variety seeking behavior on brand preferences. However, the author has made use of the attribute satiation approach to model variety seeking behavior. In this paper, the attempt has been made to build on the lightning bolt model (Roy et al., 1996) and the variation proposed by Chintagunta (1999) to propose a conceptual model that incorporates the effect of situational variables on variety seeking behavior and thereby, brand preferences. The Indian kirana store and a large-format retail store have been contrasted to set the empirical context for the problem. Alternative methods have been proposed for data collection and for empirically testing the model in this particular context