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The interrelationships between brand and channel choice

Marketing Letters volume 25, pages 319–330 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

We propose a framework for the joint study of the consumer’s decision of where to buy and what to buy. The framework is rooted in utility theory where the utility is for a particular channel/brand combination. The framework contains firm actions, the consumer search process, the choice process, and consumer learning. We develop research questions within each of these areas. We then discuss methodological issues pertaining to the use of experimentation and econometrics. Our framework suggests that brand and channel choices are closely intertwined, and therefore studying them jointly will reveal a deeper understanding of consumer decision making in the modern marketing environment.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Notes

  1. The S in JCS stands for store. This is to contrast with JCO, which denotes the J. Crew online channel (see Fig. 2c).

  2. We thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting this research question.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA

    Scott A. Neslin

  2. Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Kinshuk Jerath & Leonard Lee

  3. Anderson School of Management, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Anand Bodapati

  4. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Eric T. Bradlow & Z. John Zhang

  5. Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    John Deighton

  6. University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Sonja Gensler

  7. Management Department, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Elisa Montaguti

  8. H.J. Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA, USA

    Rahul Telang

  9. Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Raj Venkatesan

  10. Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

    Peter C. Verhoef

  11. BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway

    Peter C. Verhoef

Authors
  1. Scott A. Neslin
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  2. Kinshuk Jerath
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  4. Eric T. Bradlow
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  7. Leonard Lee
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  8. Elisa Montaguti
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  9. Rahul Telang
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  11. Peter C. Verhoef
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  12. Z. John Zhang
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Correspondence to Kinshuk Jerath.

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Neslin, S.A., Jerath, K., Bodapati, A. et al. The interrelationships between brand and channel choice. Mark Lett 25, 319–330 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-014-9305-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-014-9305-2

Keywords

  • Brand choice
  • Channel choice
  • Learning
  • Utility theory