When Stock Disappears, Psychology Appears: The Moderating Effect of the Regulatory Focus on Consumer Reactions to Out-of-Stock

Objective: this study investigates the moderating effect of consumers’ regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) on their reactions to out-of-stock (OOS) situations in retail environments. The objective is to understand how different regulatory profiles influence purchase intention when products are unavailable. Methods: three experimental studies were conducted. In the first study, we explored how consumers’ regulatory focus affects purchase intention in OOS scenarios. The second study manipulated participants’ regulatory focus to analyze its effect on product unavailability. The third study used eye-tracking technology to examine how regulatory focus influences visual attention in OOS contexts. Results: results show that promotion-focused consumers exhibit greater resilience, maintaining stable purchase intentions, while prevention-focused consumers demonstrate negative reactions, focusing more on empty spaces. Conclusions: these findings suggest that retailers can tailor marketing and inventory management strategies based on consumers’ regulatory profiles to mitigate the negative effects of OOS situations. This study contributes to the literature by integrating regulatory focus theory with consumer responses to stockouts and offers practical insights for retail managers.