The beauty of chaos: Positive impact of disorderly product assortments on consumer choice

Purpose This paper aims to find out which consumption setting – disorderly or orderly product assortments – increases product sales. Design/methodology/approach A series of four experiments investigates when and why disorderly (vs. orderly) assortments increase consumption intentions of a product chosen by consumers. Findings We demonstrate that the positive impact of disorderly (vs. orderly) product assortments was mediated by perceived values of a product chosen by consumers. In addition, our findings suggest that the proposed effect is mitigated when a product is not chosen by consumers or when consumers' dispositional need for structure is low. Originality/value This research makes theoretical contributions to the literature on environment, personal control, product choice as well as provides managerial insights as to how marketers can better manage product assortments, package designs and in-store product display, especially when consumers have a chance to choose a product among options in the market.