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This study aims to explore the effect of two digital nudging technologies that is overt digital nudging (ODN) and covert digital nudging (CDN), on consumers’ choices of nudged options in the context of online customization systems (OCS).

This paper designed a 2 (ODN: yes/no) by 2 (CDN: yes/no) full factor between-subject lab experiment in the context of online travel package customization. This paper collected and analyzed the number of nudged options (the intermediate options) of choices among consumers in these four scenarios.

ODN and CDN have positive effects on consumers’ choices of nudged options in online customization (OC). In addition, mixed nudge (a combination of ODN and CDN) has a more significant effect on consumers’ choices of nudged options in OC than using CDN only.

This study focused only on the choice behavior of consumers in the customization context and did not analyze their attitude change. The present study used vendor recommendation as the proxy variable of ODN and default option as the proxy variable of CDN. A future study could explore other instances of ODN and CDN.

This study explores the effects of digital nudging technologies in the context of OCS. The study provides clear guidance for customization vendors on whether to use digital nudging tools and their combinations, and which tools should be preferred.

Vendors can adopt digital nudging technology to persuade consumers to choose nudged options. This nudging effect can make consumers’ choices predictable and less uncertain, thus adding profits for vendors.

First, the study focuses on the impact of digital nudging on consumers’ choices and enriches the understanding of the impact of customization system design on consumers’ choices. Second, this paper put forward a new classification method for digital nudging and proposed, respectively, the effect mechanisms on consumers’ customization choices. Third, this study explores the effect of combining multiple nudging tools in OC context on consumers’ choices, which deepens the understanding of the interactive effects of different types of nudging tools.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why choice editing is being used as a tool to promote sustainable consumption, using the choice editing of fish as a case study.

This study is explorative in nature and is based on a case study of choice editing of fish as a product category that has undergone fairly widespread choice editing. The case is built on primary empirical data from three Swedish and four British retailers collected through semi-structured interviews. These retailers are of different sizes, but together represent over 50 per cent of the food retail market in both Sweden and the UK taken by market share.

The findings suggest that the main business case choice editing is the creation of a responsible brand image and is often based on pressure from wider societal norms. The case for choice editing is therefore ultimately reliant on consumer recognition of sustainability issues as valuable, and it is unlikely to be taken up when retailers see no added brand value in acting responsibly on a certain issue. Clearer product-based indicators and stronger governmental regulation of unsustainable products may enable further choice editing for sustainability by retailers. NGOs and the media also play a critical role.

To enable further choice editing for sustainability by retailers, there is a need for clearer product-based indicators and stronger governmental regulation of unsustainable products.

The purpose of this study is to determine how and when choice variety influences consumers’ willingness to purchase, according to a personal emotion perspective. The choice paradox indicates that although having many choices can be beneficial, it can also cause customer decision paralysis and unhappiness. This article proposes that the desire and motivation to process information vary from person to person, and emotional factors are relevant.

With a 2 × 2 experimental design, this study examines the influence of the interaction of choice variety with need for cognition (NFC) on positive and negative emotions, and then tests the mediating effects on purchase intentions. The sample includes 214 college students, assigned randomly to self-assessment questionnaires.

Both high NFC respondents in the high variety condition and low NFC respondents in the low variety condition exhibit more positive emotions than low NFC respondents in the high variety condition but not more than high NFC respondents in the low variety condition. Positive (negative) emotions increase (decrease) consumers’ purchase intentions.

The experiment was conducted in a virtual store, which may not match real-life store environments or reflect participants’ actual purchase behaviours, so additional research should consider the influence of involvement further.

The results offer suggestions for developing more effective communication with emotions, increasing involvement to maintain consumers’ positive emotions and relieve their confusion, and managing product variety.

This article meets the identified need to study how choice variety influences consumers’ willingness to purchase from a personal emotion perspective.

Prior literature indicates conflicting effects of online product information, which may complicate or simplify consumer purchase decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how different online product information (i.e. the choice set size and the popularity information and its presentation) affect consumers’ decision making and the related market outcomes.

This research relies on information-processing theories and social learning theory. By stepwise conducting two 2×2 within-subject factorial design experiments, this research examines the effects of the choice set size, product popularity information and product presentation on consumers’ decision making and the aggregated market outcomes.

The results show that product popularity information led consumers to either simplify or complicate their decision strategy, depending on the size of the choice sets. Additionally, presenting products by their popularity in descending order resulted in consumers making decisions with a larger decision bias. The results also show that the presence of product popularity was more likely to forge a “superstar” structure in a large market.

The research suggests that e-retailers and e-marketplace operators should carefully utilize product popularity information. Multiple mechanisms that shape different shopping environments with different orders are necessary to create a long-tailed market structure.

This study found the mixed effects of product popularity information when it is presented in different environments (i.e. the large/small choice set and the sorted/randomized product presentation). The overuse of popularity information may induce consumers’ decision bias.

Examines the relationship between consumer‐specific constructs and the size of consumer retail choice sets for four different types of retailers: convenience/quick‐stop stores, fast‐food outlets, health clubs and medical services. Includes in the analysis consumer experience, product class importance, brand‐decision importance, perceived risk, brand loyalty and demographics as predictors of the size of awareness, consideration/evoked and reconsideration set sizes. Finds that when comparing physical goods as opposed to service providers, the size of retail choice sets differs significantly and that consumer experience and reseller loyalty are important predictors of choice set size. Indicates that the size of a consumer’s choice set decreases as a retailer’s product offerings move along the continuum from pure physical goods to pure services. Identifies and discusses managerial and research implications of the results.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of key decision-making attributes on consumers’ choice of accommodation among and between hotels and Airbnb.

The study used a choice-based conjoint approach using 21 key decision-making factors that impact consumers’ choice of accommodation across five segments ranging from economy to luxury. Latent class estimation was used to identify segments of respondents who tend to have similar preferences for accommodation.

The results showed the presence of a consistent pattern of decision-making across the five accommodation segments, culminating in a hierarchy of importance in accommodation choice. The 21 key decision-making attributes comprised three tiers in order of decreasing importance: quality and service, amenities, and accessibility and safety. Further, latent class analysis indicated the presence of a hotel group and an Airbnb group of customers, which allowed us to identify how both types of providers might maximize the value of their offers to encourage customer switch.

The accommodation landscape is extremely dynamic (particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds) and complex. The present study cannot capture all of its intricacies but provides an invaluable foundation for future research on the topic of consumer choice in an evolving and competitive accommodation market.

Extant research on accommodation choice has focused on hotels or Airbnb only. Moreover, research that has considered both types of accommodation simultaneously is limited in its conceptual and methodological scope. The present study synthesizes the fragmented literature on consumers’ accommodation choices and offers a holistic and coherent schematic – the hierarchy of importance in accommodation choice – that can be used by future researchers and practitioners alike.

This paper aims to find out what product features become salient when consumers are exposed to many market offerings, demonstrating how choice set size influences construal mindset, which then affects the type of product consumers choose.

Experiment 1 provides preliminary evidence that being exposed to a large (vs small) choice set may drive people to focus more on the feasibility (i.e. a secondary feature) of a product and less on the desirability (i.e. a primary feature) when making a choice. Experiment 2 unveils the serial mediating roles of construal level and importance of price/design.

Consumers are more likely to select feasible (i.e. affordable) market offerings and not desirable (i.e. well-designed) ones when choosing from a large (vs small) choice set. This effect is serially mediated by mental construals and by the importance of price or design. Choosing from a large (vs small) choice set leads to low-level mental construals, which increase the importance of price (a feasibility attribute) while decreasing the importance of design (a desirability attribute), resulting in choice of feasible (affordable) market offerings over well-designed ones.

Although consumers generally focus on the desirability of a choice or an action, choosing from large choice sets makes them focus more on the feasibility of market offerings because of low-level mental construals.

In today’s era of e-commerce, as consumers are exposed to too many product offerings, retailers should emphasize the feasibility of their market offerings (e.g. affordability) to increase the chance that consumers purchase their products. This research shows that people rely very much on product price to make selections when provided with a large choice set.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to show that large choice sets make consumers choose affordable products over well-designed ones and introduces the serial mediation effect of construal level and importance of price/design. Accordingly, this research establishes that large choice sets activate low-level mental construals, which associate with a feasibility mindset that ultimately makes consumers choose an affordable product instead of a well-designed one. It adds to the literature on choice overload by showing that the importance of price overshadows the importance of design (aesthetics) when people are exposed to large choice sets.