Consumer response to seasonal clearance sales: experimental analysis of consumer personality traits in self-service stores

Consumer responses to clearance sales, both in terms of consumer satisfaction with the decision process and in terms of subsequent store-choice behaviour, have been analysed in this paper through four controlled experiments conducted in Mexico in reference to consumer choice and decision-satisfaction variables. The results suggest that the consumer response to clearance sales is driven to a large extent by two factors: the effect of a clearance sale on the available options of goods and the degree of store loyalty. Overall, the discussion of results of the four studies presented in the paper demonstrates that the consumer response to clearance sales, both in terms of decision-satisfaction levels and of attractiveness of retail stores, is strongly influenced by the variables of price sensitivity, attractiveness of products, loyalty and perceived value of available brands.