International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

Consumer response to stock-out in the online supply chain

Kofi Q. Dadzie Evelyn Winston
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Kofi Q. Dadzie Evelyn Winston, (2007),"Consumer response to stock-out in the online supply chain",
International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 37 Iss 1 pp. 19 - 42
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Tom van Woensel, Karel van Donselaar, Rob Broekmeulen, Jan Fransoo, (2007),"Consumer responses to
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Consumer
Consumer response to stock-out response to
in the online supply chain stock-out
Kofi Q. Dadzie
Department of Marketing, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, 19
Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and
Evelyn Winston Received January 2006
Revised September 2006
School of Business, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Accepted October 2006

Abstract
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Purpose – Consumer response to merchandise shortage in the online supply chain outlet is an
interesting and important issue for e-vendors because of the high risk associated with the online
environment. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the online environment on
consumer out-of-stock behaviors. In addition, it aims to examine the relative impact of non-web site
situational factors on consumer out-of-stock behavior.
Design/methodology/approach – The study proposed an expectation confirmation-disconfirmation
framework based on the utility maximization principle in consumer research. This framework was
validated with data from online shopping transactions gathered in two field studies.
Findings – The occurrence of a stock-out had a pervasive negative impact on consumers’ assessment
of their online transactional experience and repurchase intentions. Furthermore, item substitution
behavior was positively linked with merchandise information content, vividness of web site content,
and service speed and a few situational factors. Overall, it was found that consumers’ reaction to the
“shock” effect of a stock-out was best explained by an expectation confirmation-disconfirmation model
rather than a performance-only or expectation-only model.
Research limitations/implications – While the focus on the total expectation
confirmation-disconfirmation process limited the scope of the study to a single stock-out event,
future research should examine multiple stock-out events to further validate the proposed framework.
Practical implications – Managers can take advantage of the positive linkage between web site
design features and item substitution behavior by tracking the online consumers’ expectation
confirmation-disconfirmation evaluative process and its effect on how consumers respond to high
priced versus low priced items during a stock-out event. Design features for low priced items such as
CDs and books require product specific information to reduce item switching or exit from the e-supply
chain during a stock-out event.
Originality/value – Scholars need a systematic framework for examining consumer response to a
stock-out that is applicable in the e-commerce context because of the effects of abundant information
access, low switching cost and the high service expectations of online customers.
Keywords Stock control, Supply chain management, Electronic commerce, Consumer behaviour
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Despite significant technological advancement in the online delivery systems since the International Journal of Physical
early failures of the industry in the late 1990s (eMarketer, 2005), many firms still face Distribution & Logistics Management
Vol. 37 No. 1, 2007
significant risks in managing inventory levels in their supply chains. In the virtual pp. 19-42
marketplace, demand is highly unpredictable (Rayport and Jaworski, 2001; Reibstein, q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0960-0035
2002; Seidman, 2000) and some instances of merchandise shortage are inevitable. DOI 10.1108/09600030710723309
 IJPDLM However, a merchandise shortage is likely to have a significant impact on customer
37,1 dissatisfaction and lost sales because online consumers generally hold higher than
normal service expectations (Bloomberg et al., 2002; Seidman, 2000). In addition, some
consumers believe that the offline delivery systems are more efficient than online
delivery systems (Schlosser et al., 2006).
Given the inherent inevitability of merchandise stock-out the challenge for supply
20 chain managers is how to encourage online shoppers to buy a substitute item and thus
minimize or avoid the cost of lost sales. The effectiveness of this strategy for the online
supply chain environment is unclear because consumers can easily switch to another
web site (i.e. low switching cost) in the same or different supply chain. On the other
hand, some online consumers may be more willing to substitute an item than to leave
the web site because of low information search cost. Thus, questions arise as to which
features of the online store environment are linked to major out-of-stock behaviors
(Emmelhainz et al., 1991; Stock and Lambert, 2001; Zinn and Liu, 2001). These major
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known out-of-stock behaviors include substituting an item (S), postponing or delaying

the purchase decision (D), and leaving the supply chain outlet (L) (Emmelhainz et al.,
1991; Stock and Lambert, 2001; Zinn and Liu, 2001), because the extant research on
SDL behaviors is focused on the traditional offline store context, a systematic
theoretical-based framework is needed to explain how the unique context of online
store environment influences the occurrence of SDL behaviors during an online
stock-out.
The consumer satisfaction literature suggests that consumer reaction to an online
stock-out is likely to be influenced by their prior service experiences, the expectations
they bring to the web site, and the extent to which such expectations are judged to
meet/exceed or not meet their expectations – i.e. their expectation
confirmation-disconfirmation judgments (Oliver, 1980; Oliver and DeSarbo, 1988).
Following this theoretical framework, we tested the hypothesis that consumer reaction
to a single stock-out was significantly associated with web site service expectation
confirmation-disconfirmation judgments. Our study had the following objectives to:
.
examine the effect of a stock-out on the online shopping experience;
.
identify the key web site design characteristics underlying consumer service
expectation confirmation-disconfirmation judgments and the effects of these
judgments on their choice of out-of-stock behavior when confronted with an
online stock-out situation; and
.
examine the relative influence of non-web site design and consumer
characteristics on how online consumers react to a stock-out.

Although stock-out can occur repeatedly on an online vendor’s web site, our focus was
on the expectation confirmation-disconfirmation process and not repeated stock-outs.
Such a focus allowed us to examine the different stages of the online merchandise
service confirmation-disconfirmation (expectations before a stock-out, expectations
after a stock-out, and expectation-performance) judgments for the entire online
transaction, while reducing possible demand effects from the use of a multiple
stock-out survey.
The principal contribution of this study was a theoretical framework for explaining
consumer shopping response to stock-out situations. Heretofore, explanations for
consumer response to stock-outs had been confined to offline stores and further limited
 to estimates of the proportion of consumers responding with various out-of-stock Consumer
behaviors in a supply chain’s retail outlet (Zinn and Liu, 2001). Given the low switching response to
cost and the high merchandise service expectations of online customers, the role of
consumer service expectation confirmation-disconfirmation judgments in the online stock-out
out-of-stock response decision was, therefore, validated as a robust model for future
stock-out research. Additionally, the study offers web site design guidelines for
increasing customer retention during a stock-out event in a supply chain retail outlet. 21
We begin with a review of the literature on consumer out-of-stock behaviors. Next,
we develop a framework of the determinants of out-of-stock behaviors in the online
supply chain context, followed by a discussion of the field studies and study
hypotheses, and methodology. The paper concludes with managerial and research
implications.

Literature overview
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Researchers generally agree that consumers react to a stock-out event by evoking one
of three main behaviors:
(1) buying a substitute item (S) – a different size, model or color of the same item or
a competitive brand item;
(2) delaying the purchase decision (D); or
(3) leaving the supply chain outlet (L).

Although SDL behavior is widely recognized, there is little agreement on the frequency
with which consumers react to a stock-out situation with each of these behaviors (Zinn
and Liu, 2001). For example, a review of five major stock-out studies in a retail outlet
store context (Table I) showed that estimates of percentage of times consumers buy a
substitute can be as high as 83.4 percent (Walter and Grabner, 1975) and as low as
22.2 percent (Schary and Christopher, 1979). This wide variation in percentage
responses has prompted calls for greater attention to the conditions that predict the
likelihood of SDL behaviors (Zinn and Liu, 2001).
Research on stock-out behaviors may be traced as far back as the Progressive Grocer
Study of 1968 (National Association of Food Chains and A.C. Nielsen, 1968). However, it
was not until the late 1970s that researchers began to address the issue of the predictors
of out-of-stock behaviors. One of the first such empirical studies was conducted by
Schary and Christopher (1979). Based on a study of 1,167 consumers in two suburban
stores of a London supermarket chain, these researchers found that consumers were

Percent mentioning in each study

Progressive Schary and Emmelhainz Walter and Zinn and
Grocer Christopher et al. Grabner Liu
Response (1968) (1979) (1991) (1975) (2001)

Buy Table I.
substitute 47.8 22.2 36.0 83.4 62.01 Comparison of
Delay out-of-stock behaviors in
purchase 24.0 29.8 25.0 02.5 15.08 five previous brick and
Leave 28.2 47.9 39.0 14.1 22.91 mortar studies
 IJPDLM more likely to leave the supply chain outlet if the head of the household was in a
37,1 managerial or professional occupation or if consumers were brand loyal. Another
important conclusion of this study was that stores involved in the stock-out suffered a
negative store image with respect to customer service, product quality, value,
convenience, image of the product, and availability (Schary and Christopher, 1979).
The next empirical study to examine consumer reaction to a stock-out was conducted
22 by Emmelhainz et al. (1991). Based on convenience sample of 1,200 shoppers, the
researchers concluded that brand loyal shoppers were more likely to leave the supply
chain retail outlet. This response poses an interesting conundrum for supply chain
research – namely, how is the supply chain identified? If the shopper goes to another
store of the same retail chain then there is no effect except on the consumer. If to a
competitive retail outlet, then the retailer suffers a stock-out cost but the manufacturer
does not. In effect, the researcher is faced with the question are Safeway and Kroger
members of a P&G supply chain or is the P&G-Kroger chain different from the
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P&G-Safeway chain? This study also reports that the most common out-of-stock
behavior was item substitution, followed by brand switching behavior and exit. In
addition, Emmelhainz et al. (1991) show that a stock-out has different consequences for
the inventory policies of supply chain members, especially retailers and manufacturers.
More recently, attention has shifted to the prediction of out-of-stock behavior choice.
One study (Campo et al., 2000) examined out-of-stock reaction for breakfast cereals and
margarine. Subjects were asked how they would have reacted had the item (cereal or
margarine) not been on the shelf. Although the study did not truly measure actual
out-of-stock occurrence, the findings seemed to confirm previous research. In particular,
loyalty to missing items was found to decrease brand switching and store switching
intentions.
The first comprehensive study to examine the influence of situational factors on actual
choice of out-of-stock behavior was conducted by Zinn and Liu (2001). Their study was
based on a convenience sample of 283 shoppers of which 230 experienced a stock-out
situation. The impact of five situational factors on out-of-stock behaviors was examined,
including store price, sense of urgency of the purchase, brand loyalty, emotional impact,
and sense of surprise. Zinn and Liu (2001) found that item substitution was more likely if
perceived store prices were lower than the competition; if the purchase was made under a
sense of urgency; and if consumers were brand loyal. The likelihood of item substitution
decreased if consumers were upset by the stock-out situation. The study also concluded
that consumers are most likely to leave a supply chain outlet if they are surprised by the
stock-out. This finding regarding the effect of surprise on the tendency to leave the supply
chain suggests that prior expectations of merchandise availability may be an important
predictor of online out-of-stock behavior. This is especially likely because online
customers have higher service expectations than can be met by e-vendors (Seidman, 2000).
We explored the potential effect of online service surprise by operationalizing the
construct as the gap between web site service expectation and performance.

Conceptual framework and hypotheses

Implicit in the preceding literature review is the need to establish the validity of
existing conceptualizations of out-of-stock behaviors for the online context because of
the potential effects of the online service environment. These unique service
characteristics include high service expectations (Seidman, 2000) and access to
 abundant merchandise-related information at low search and switching costs. We Consumer
proposed the expectation-disconfirmation paradigm (Oliver, 1980) and the utility response to
maximization principle (Messinger and Narasimhans, 1977; Bell and Lattin, 1998;
Chiang, 1995; Bawa and Shoemaker, 1987) as the framework for this research. The stock-out
basic premise of the expectancy-disconfirmation paradigm is that consumers respond
to an outcome of transactional exchange on the basis of their judgment of how much
the performance meets their expectations, or expectation confirmation-disconfirmation 23
judgments (Mowen, 1993). Positive expectation confirmation-disconfirmation
judgments lead to satisfaction, or positive affective responses, such as approach and
repurchase. Negative expectation confirmation-disconfirmation judgments lead to the
opposite of the approach behaviors, or avoidance behaviors, such as exit and
dissatisfaction (Bitner, 1992).
The utility maximization principle asserts that consumers’ choices are associated
with utility production in terms of time, energy, resources, and utility (Messinger and
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Narasimhans, 1977; Bawa and Shoemaker, 1987). In essence, when faced with a choice
situation, consumers will select the alternative that entails the least cost or maximum
utility (Campo et al., 2000). Based on the preceding argument, we proposed an
expectation confirmation-disconfirmation model of out-of-stock behavior in Figure 1.
Under this framework, we posited that consumers’ response to a stock-out is influenced
directly by prior experiences as reflected in the product characteristics, situation factors
and consumer characteristics. These factors all influenced the perceived transactional
and opportunity cost associated with a given out-of-stock behavior in the retail store
context (Campo et al., 2000). We believe that these factors are valid in the online context
as well. However, in an online context, the direct effect of these situational factors on the
choice of an out-of-stock behavior will be dominated by the nature of the web site
expectation confirmation-disconfirmation judgments. Different web site characteristics
affect the perceived transaction cost and opportunity cost of alternative out-of-stock

Website Service
Expectations

Website Service Expectations

Online Stock-out Confirmation - Disconfirmation
Encounters Judgments

Website Service
Performance
Out-of-Stock Reactions

– Item Substitution
Online Situational – Website Switching
Factors Figure 1.
– Exit the Internet
A framework for
assessing the
Consumer determinants of online
Characteristics out-of-stock reactions
 IJPDLM behaviors. For example, availability of product information on the web site facilitates
37,1 item substitution because of low information search cost, which influences the final
expectation confirmation-disconfirmation judgment. In the remainder of this section, we
elaborate on the relative impact of all three categories of influences:
(1) web site characteristics;
(2) situational factors; and
24
(3) consumer characteristics.

The effects of web site features

Web site features refer to the nature of web site ambience and how the site functions
perform. These features have been associated with online customer satisfaction
(Szymanski and Hise, 2000), suggesting that perceived performance of certain web site
features may influence how consumers react to an online stock-out. Web site features
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can be categorized into web site design features and customer service functions. Three
web design features that are pertinent to our understanding of how consumers react to
a stock-out include: web site accessibility, web site content vividness, and web site
merchandise information content. By contrast, web site customer services features
refer to those offline and online customer service functions associated with web sites
that render service conveniences for online customers, including speed of service,
(shopping time) and customer responsiveness (Dadzie et al., 2005).
Web site accessibility. Web site accessibility refers to the extent to which a web site is
perceived to be easy to access and use for order placement purposes. Disconfirmation
judgment of web site accessibility was expected to influence the likelihood of substituting
an item on the same web site because it is a necessary condition for a consumer to
substitute an item. Consumers who perceived a site as inaccessible in times of a stock-out
would be less likely to search for a substitute on the same web site and more likely to
switch to another web site. One support for this positive linkage between item substitution
and web site accessibility is that accessibility may be associated with shopping time, one
of the functions associated with pleasurable online experience (Szymanski and Hise, 2000).
Accordingly, we propose that positive confirmation-disconfirmation of web site
accessibility expectations increased the likelihood of remaining on the same web site,
and, therefore, of substituting an item while at that same web site.
Web site vividness. Web site vividness refers to the extent to which a web site’s
contents were judged to be easy to see by virtue of its icons and layout. Research in
signaling theory suggests that such investments in web site technology may be a
signal of higher quality (Schlosser et al., 2006). Thus, a web site that was perceived to
be easy to “feel” and see may have been perceived as a better quality web site than
other web sites because it enhanced the ability of the consumer to “feel” the product
before purchasing it (Dadzie et al., 2005). Such a function is especially critical in online
stock-out situations because of the impersonal nature of the web site environment.
Hence, positive expectation confirmation-disconfirmation judgment of web site
vividness resulted in remaining on a given web site, and thus increased the likelihood
of item substitution during the stock-out event.
Merchandise information content. Merchandise information content includes the
myriad of product-related information posted on a vendor’s web site that were relevant
to the order placement process including prices, sizes, color, packages, brands, etc.
Access to abundant merchandise information should have increased the perception of a
 high fill rate (or the probability of the availability of the item on demand) and the Consumer
probability that consumers’ shopping needs would be met (Szymanski and Hise, 2000).
Under an online stock-out condition, low search cost of information (with just a click of
response to
the mouse) was especially likely to encourage the search for a substitute. For instance, stock-out
a typical retail store may carry only 200,000 titles. By comparison, Amazon.com carries
millions of titles, all of which can be accessed with a click of the mouse. However, it has
been suggested that low search costs are associated with buying better quality 25
products (Bakos, 1997). Hence, merchandise information that was not backed by high
quality products did not necessarily increase the tendency to buy a substitute.
Consumers who did not find the quality of the product they were looking for may have
switched to another web site in search of higher product quality elsewhere. Based on
the preceding argument, the following hypotheses were formulated:
H1(a). In a stock-out encounter, positive expectation confirmation-disconfirmation
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judgment of web site attributes increased the likelihood of buying a

substitute item on the same web site.
H1(b). Conversely, in a stock-out encounter, negative expectation confirmation
-disconfirmation judgment of web site attributes increased the likelihood of
switching to a different online retail web site outlet or exiting from the
online ordering system.
Web site speed of service. Online speed of service referred to the perceived speed with
which the online order was processed during the transaction in which a stock-out event
occurs. Service speed is one of the web site attributes that are associated with
pleasurable and satisfying online shopping experiences (Szymanski and Hise, 2000).
Hence, meeting consumers’ service speed expectations minimizes the surprise element
of the stock-out event so that the order placement process would be perceived as
occurring at a fast enough pace as to avoid any delay effect of the stock-out on overall
duration of the online transaction time. Conversely, negative expectation
confirmation-disconfirmation evaluations of service speed increased the surprise
effect of the stock-out. This in turn enhanced the perception that the order placement
time was lengthened by the stock-out event. This negative judgment increased the
tendency to exit in anticipation of avoiding further delay.
Web-based customer responsiveness. Web-based customer responsiveness refers to
all customer service activities other than those related to speed and merchandise
availability (Dadzie et al., 2005). This feature typically includes such activities as
response to a customer’s request related to the order placement process. As in the case
of web site content vividness, we argue that rapid response to a customer’s order
related needs or request minimized the surprise effects of the stock-out and, thus,
decreased the need to switch web site or leave the internet all together. Based on the
preceding argument, the following hypotheses were advanced:
H2(a). In a stock-out encounter, positive expectation confirmation-disconfirmation
judgments of web site customer service functions increased the likelihood of
buying a substitute product on the same web site.
H2(b). Conversely, negative expectation confirmation-disconfirmation judgments
of web site customer service functions increased the likelihood of switching
to another web site or leaving cyberspace.
 IJPDLM Situational and consumer characteristics
37,1 Situational factors that have been examined in the out-of stock literature have yet to be
validated in the online context. These include a variety of order placement specific
conditions, such as the number of trials it takes to place the order and the type of
product purchase. With respect to number of trials to place the order, we posited an
inverse relationship with item substitution likelihood. We did this because we believe
26 that an increase in the number of trials in placing an order increased the perceived
length and variability of the order placement service time and, hence, decreased the
perceived utility of item substitution at the same web site.
Another situational factor that could potentially influence consumers’ out-of-stock
behaviors was the dollar value of the intended product. We reasoned that consumers
would be less likely to substitute a high-priced item for a low-priced item without first
looking for the same item at another web site. Our rationale was that the higher the
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dollar value of the intended purchase, the higher the opportunity cost of substituting
an item on the same web site. Similarly, the type of product the consumer intended to
buy may also have determined whether a consumer substituted an item or switched to
another web site. For consumer durables, such as electronic equipment or clothing, the
consumer was more likely to switch to another web site in search of the same brand
than for “standardized” or “commodity” type items such as household detergent.
However, as in previous out-of-stock behavior research (Zinn and Liu, 2001), there is no
theoretical basis for explaining the effect of other situational factors such as the time of
day of purchase.
Among consumer characteristics that are often associated with online behavior, the
most common is web site stickiness. Web site stickiness refers to the tendency of online
surfers to go back to the same web site (Binary Compass Enterprises, 1997). One study
documents that over 60 percent of online surfers return to the same web site (Reibstein,
2002). However, the direction of influence of web site stickiness is unknown. From one
perspective, it may be argued that loyalty to a web site may increase the likelihood of
item substitution on the same web site because loyal customers are likely to remain on
the site. In this regard, one study reported that 54 percent of online shoppers intended
to repurchase from the same online merchant (Reibstein, 2002). However, from another
perspective, it also may be counter-argued that web site stickiness may be more related
to browsing and non-purchasing activities than to the online order fulfillment process.
In this latter respect, online stickiness would not necessarily be linked to item
substitution and may, in fact, increase web site switching likelihood. Accordingly, we
propose to verify the direction of influence of online stickiness on out-of-stock behavior.
Another consumer characteristic that could potentially have influenced reaction to a
stock-out was past experience with online shopping. Consumers who use the internet
frequently for shopping may be more familiar with stock-out and may be less likely to
over react by switching sites because of perceived lower transaction cost. Similarly,
other characteristics that may have been associated with the transaction cost of
stock-out reaction are number of children and years of work experience. However, given
the lack of a theoretical basis for such links, no hypotheses were offered for the influence
of situational and consumer characteristics on out-of-stock response behavior.
 Methodology Consumer
Data collection procedures response to
The data for this study were collected in two separate samples as part of a broad study
of online consumers’ shopping experiences. Participants were employees at two stock-out
Southeastern US universities. Respondents were given a questionnaire to be completed
before, during and after their next online shopping transaction. Questionnaires were
collected within three weeks. This approach was considered to be more effective in 27
eliciting accurate data than other approaches that are based on participants’ recall of
their latest shopping experience. As an incentive to participate in the study, subjects
were promised a chance to participate in a lottery to win $100. The first data collection
effort, involving a target sample of 470 employees, resulted in 373 returned usable
questionnaires, for a net return rate of 79.4 percent. Of the 373 subjects, 64 encountered
a stock-out. The second data collection effort which involved a target sample of 500
employees resulted in 420 returned and usable questionnaires. Of these, 156 subjects
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encountered a stock-out event. Examination of the out-of-stock behavior rates showed

similar distributions of out-of-stock reactions across both samples. For example, the
proportion of online shoppers who bought a substitute is practically the same in both
samples, 40.4 percent versus 40.3 percent. Similarly, the proportion of online shoppers
who left a web site for another web site in the first sample was 35.6 percent as
compared to 34.7 percent in the second sample (Table II). Because of this similarity in
the distribution of the focal construct, out-of-stock behaviors, the data were pooled for a
total of 214 subjects for the analysis pertaining to reaction to stock-out. This sample
size is comparable with that of similar studies (Zinn and Liu, 2001).
The respondent profile of the pooled data of consumers who experienced a stock-out
showed that a majority (70.7 percent) were between 20 and 30 years old and were
women (60 percent). The most common products purchased by this sample of

Consumers who experienced

Sample 1 Sample 2 a stock out
(N ¼ 372) (N ¼ 460) (N ¼ 214)

Stock-out incidents
Percent of customers who experienced
stock out situations-aggregate 15.05 33.91 24.71
Stock out incident by firms
Amazon.com .7.6 percent
Gap.com 6.5
E-bay 6.5
Wal-Mart 5.6
Victoria Secret 3.7
Sears.com 2.8
Dell.com 2.8
Out-of stock behaviors responses a
Left web site to another site 35.61 34.7
Left site/ 23.40 25.0
Bought a substitute 40.40 40.3 Table II.
Frequency of online stock
a
Note: Percentages are based on the number of respondents who encountered a stock out situation in out and consumer
each sample, 60 in sample 1 and 154 in sample 2 for a total sample of 214 reactions
 IJPDLM consumers were personal entertainment products (29 percent), books (28 percent),
37,1 clothing and shoes (14 percent), and electronics (8.4 percent). With respect to
distribution of annual income, 10.2 percent classified themselves in the $50,000 or
higher category, 21.6 percent in the $30,000-$49,999 range, 37 percent in the
$18,000-$29,999 range, and another 31 percent in the under $18,000 category. Thus, the
profile of consumers who encountered a stock-out does not seem to differ from
28 the typical profile of online shoppers as reported in other studies (Szymanski and Hise,
2000). However, this non-random sample cannot be taken as a representative sample of
the population of online consumers.

Measures and construct validation

The measures for all study constructs are presented in the Appendix. As indicated
earlier, web site characteristics were defined in terms of five measures:
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(1) web site accessibility;

(2) web site content vividness;
(3) perceived merchandise information content;
(4) perceived service speed; and
(5) customer responsiveness.

A stock-out event was considered as having occurred on the basis of three situations:
when a shopper could not find an item, was told it was out-of-stock (Emmelhainz et al.,
1991; Zinn and Liu, 2001), or received an order that was delivered incomplete or back
ordered. Measures of web site characteristics were taken from recently published
studies (Dadzie et al., 2005; Szymanski and Hise, 2000). The items were then pre-tested
on two student samples. Only six of the final list of 20 items was considered relevant
for this study.
Situation characteristics were measured by deterministic indicators of the online
order placement process including number of trials required to place the order and the
number previous visits to a web site. Product characteristics were measured by the
type of product bought (five categories), and dollar value of the item ultimately
purchased. Consumer characteristics included online stickiness, frequency of online
shopping in general. The final category of measures, demographic characteristics, was
measured by number of children at home and years of work experience.
Other than the web site stickiness, all multi-tem study constructs were measured
with scales that have been validated by other researchers (Szymanksi and Hise, 2000;
Dadzie et al., 2005). To measure online stickiness, an initial set of 12 items was collected
from the extant literature and reduced to five following conventional scale
development process (Churchill, 1979) that included two pretests on student
samples. Given that our dependent construct, SDL behavior is a trichotomous scale,
we examined the bivariate correlations among our study variables in establishing
discriminant and convergent validity (Table III).
With respect to convergent validity, all the web site design attributes, except
responsiveness, are positively correlated, indicating evidence of convergent validity.
The negative correlation between responsiveness and the other web site attributes
suggest that responsiveness may reflect non-web site attributes. Similarly, web site
stickiness and revisit intentions are highly and positively correlated (r ¼ 0.79,
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Variable Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ease of use 0.22 1.00 1.00

Vividness 0.18 0.11 0.52 * * 1.00
Information 0.25 1.02 0.47 * * 0.32 * * 1.00
Speed 0.04 1.10 0.50 * * 0.41 * * 2 0.32 1.00
Responsiveness 2 0.93 1.05 20.23 * * 2 0.33 * * 2 48 * * 230 * * 1.00
Substitute 0.32 0.47 0.03 2 0.01 0.01 0.06 0.08 1.00
Switch 0.19 0.39 20.01 0.04 0.03 20.13 0.02 2 0.34 * * 1.00
Exit 0.15 0.36 0.07 2 0.13 2 0.04 0.15 * * 0.04 2 0.29 * * 0.01 1.00
Stickiness 4.84 1.21 20.35 * * 2 0.24 * * 2 0.13 20.12 0.16 0.06 2 0.09 20.02 1.00
Revisit intention 5.05 1.20 20.25 * * 2 0.18 * * 2 0.21 * * 20.04 0.25 * * 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.79 * * 1.00
Notes: *p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01; * * *p , 0.001. Web sites attributes represent expectation confirmation-disconfirmation evaluations (the difference
between performance and expectations). The attributes were measured on a seven-point scale with 7 ¼ strongly agree and 1 ¼ strongly disagree. For the
items representing each measure, see Appendix 1
stock-out
Consumer

correlation matrix
Descriptive statistics and
Table III.
29
response to
 IJPDLM p , 0.001), a further indication of convergent validity. Measures possess discriminant
37,1 validity when they do not correlate with other measures they are not supposed to
correlate with. This evidence is demonstrated by the lack of correlation between web
site stickiness and two of the SDL behaviors, exit and web site switching. By definition,
consumers who stick to a web site would be less likely to exit or switch web site.
The final list of measures for study constructs is presented in the Appendix.
30
Analysis approach and findings
The study hypotheses were tested using multinomial logit. We did not use ordinary
least squares regression because we had three dichotomous dependent variables.
Discriminant analysis was inappropriate because of its assumption that the
independent variables are normally distributed. Following Campo et al. (2000), we
argued that reaction to a stock-out is a rational choice decision and that consumers
selected the behavior that entailed the maximum utility and the least cost (transaction,
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psychological, time, etc.). Such utility assessments were reflected in their evaluation of
the expectancy confirmation-disconfirmation for various out-of-stock behavior
responses: item substitution, web site switching, and exit. Three analyses were
performed for each of the expectation confirmation-disconfirmation processes:
expectations-only model, performance-only model, and finally, expectation
confirmation-disconfirmation model. The final analysis was limited to the
confirmation-disconfirmation model because it produced the most robust results.
The multinomial analysis model applied in this study is discussed by other scholars
(Campo et al., 2000; Zinn and Liu, 2001) and, hence, is not presented here.

Patronage consequences of stock-out

An examination of stock-out rates (Table II) indicates that frequency of stock-out was
generally under 8 percent for online shoppers being highest for Amazon-com
(7.6 percent), followed by E-bay (6.5 percent), GAP (6.5 percent), Wal-Mart.com
(5.6 percent), Victoria Secret (3.7 percent), Sears (2.8 percent) and Dell (2.8 percent).
A comparison of online shoppers’ evaluations across consumer categories (i.e. those
who experienced a stock out versus those who did not encounter a stock-out event) is
reported in Table IV. A stock-out event had a pervasively negative impact on online
consumers’ satisfaction evaluations and repurchase intentions. Consumers who
experienced a stock-out event at a web site rated their shopping experience to be less
satisfying than did consumers who did not encounter a stock-out (mean ¼ 5.51 vs
6.31, t ¼ 5.40, p , 0.001). In addition, consumers who experienced a stock-out were
more likely to have lower repurchase intentions than consumers who did not
experience a stock-out (mean ¼ 5.59 vs 6.27, t ¼ 7.36, p , 0.001). This finding
suggests that even a single stock-out experience is pervasively and negatively linked to
consumers’ satisfaction evaluations and repurchase intentions than has been reported
in the offline store context (Zinn and Liu, 2001).

Determinants of out-of-stock reactions

The results of the multinomial logit analysis of consumer reaction to stock-out were
examined for all three processes: the expectation-only model, the performance-only
model, and the confirmation-disconfirmation model. The confirmation-disconfirmation
model was more predictive than the expectation-only or the performance-only models.
 Consumer
Consumers who
Did not experience Experienced stock out response to
Store image stock out (n ¼ 618) (n ¼ 214) t-value p , t stock-out
Satisfaction evaluation
Satisfaction with online process 6.31 5.55 5.40 0.001
Satisfaction with product 6.28 5.59 7.27 0.001 31
Satisfaction with order process 6.37 5.70 6.29 0.001
Repurchase intentions
Intention to return to same web site 6.38 5.42 8.24 0.001 Table IV.
Intention to recommend site 6.20 5.39 7.36 0.001 Consequences of stock out:
Intention to repurchase from same site 6.27 5.59 7.36 0.001 comparison of repurchase
and satisfaction
Notes: Table values are mean scale ratings anchored from 1 ¼ “strongly disagree” to 7 ¼ “strongly evaluations by online
agree.” Sample sizes include both study one and study two shopping experience
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For item substitution likelihood (Table V), the expectation confirmation-

disconfirmation model yielded better overall model fit (x 2 value of 43.05, R 2 ¼ 0.30,
p , 0.001) than the expectation only model (x 2 ¼ 35.06, R 2 ¼ 0.21, p . 0.001) or the
performance-only model (x 2 ¼ 33.73, R 2 ¼ 0.23, p , 0.001). For web site switching
likelihood (Table VI), the results for the expectation confirmation-disconfirmation
model were also more robust (x 2 ¼ 19.80, R 2 ¼ 0.39, p , 0.02) as compared to the
results for the expectation-only model (x 2 ¼ 16.55, R 2 ¼ 0.19, p , 0.05) or the
performance-only model (x 2 ¼ 20.20, R 2 ¼ 0.17, p , 0.07). For exit likelihood
(Table VII), the results were also more robust for the expectation
confirmation-disconfirmation model (x 2 ¼ 20.59, R 2 ¼ 0.38, p , 0.04) than for the
expectation-only model (x 2 ¼ 16.5, R 2 ¼ 0.18, p , 0.06) or the performance-only
model (x 2 ¼ 20.87, R 2 ¼ 0.19, p , 0.07). Hence, the analysis was limited to the
confirmation-disconfirmation model.
Item substitution likelihood. The results for item substitution likelihood are shown in
Table V. In the expectation confirmation-disconfirmation model, three of the five web site
features were significantly linked to the likelihood of item substitution, including
content vividness (coefficient ¼ 0.42, p , 0.05), merchandise information content
(coefficient ¼ 0.42, p , 0.05), and web site service speed (coefficient ¼ 0.63,
p , 0.001). These findings suggest, apparently, that consumers were more willing to
buy a substitute on the same web site if their expectations were met or exceeded for web site
content vividness, availability of product information, and order placement service time.
With respect to other influences, type of item purchased (coefficient ¼ 0.64,
p , 0.001) and dollar amount ultimately spent on the item (coefficient ¼ 2 0.02,
p , 0.05) were linked to item substitution likelihood in the expectation
confirmation-disconfirmation model. These results parallel those in the
expectation-only or the performance-only model. The positive coefficient for product
purchased (CDs and books) and the negative coefficient for dollar amount spent both
suggest that shoppers were more likely to substitute low priced items than high priced
items in the clothing and personal entertainment product categories. These findings
confirm recent findings that consumer continue to believe that online delivery systems
are not as efficient as offline delivery systems, especially for high priced ticket items
(Schlosser et al., 2006).
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32
37,1

Table V.

a stock out
IJPDLM

item substitution
likelihood during
Determinants of web site
The Disconfirmation Model The Expectation Model The Performance Model
Standard Standard Standard
Influences Coefficient Error Wald Coefficient Error Wald Coefficient Error Wald

Constant 2 1.35 1.25 1.16 1.93 1.49 1.66 2.08 1.45 2.06
Web site design features
Web site accessibility 0.16 0.29 0.39 0.45 0.40 1.30 0.16 0.29 1.69
Web site content vividness 0.42 0.27 2.97 * 0.14 0.19 1935 0.57 20.28 0.23 1.54
Merchandise information content 0.43 0.27 3.26 * 2 0.39 0.26 2.23 0.41 0.25 3.26 *
Web site service speed 0.63 0.21 6.23 * * * 2 0.34 0.33 1.07 0.08 0.31 0.08
Customer responsiveness 0.04 0.19 0.04 2 0.14 0.23 0.36 0.04 0.20 0.05
Situational factors
Number of trials in placing order 0.35 0.24 2.05 0.24 0.23 1.09 20.23 0.24 0.95
Previous visit to site 2 0.37 0.49 2.50 2 0.18 0.29 1.27 20.28 0.19 2.28
Product characteristics
Product purchased – books and CDs 0.64 0.44 6.03 * * * 0.35 0.21 2.18 0.71 0.40 3.17 *
Amount ultimately spent on item 2 0.02 0.01 5.93 * 2 0.02 0.01 2.72 * * * 20.02 0.01 4.64 *
Consumer characteristics
Web site stickiness 2 0.20 0.13 3.24 * 0.22 0.13 0.14 20.10 0.13 1.04
Online shopping frequency 0.54 0.57 0.91 0.14 0.53 1.58 0.16 0.53 0.09
Demographic characteristics
Number of children at home 0.28 0.17 2.91 * 0.33 0.17 5.85 * 0.17 0.15 0.33
Years of work experience 0.04 0.20 0.04 0.01 0.03 0.22 0.02 0.03 0.33
Model fit summary
x2 43.05 35.06 33.73
Significance 0.001 0.001 0.001
R2 0.30 0.21 0.23
Percent correctly classified 74.80 75.70 73.10
Notes: *p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01; * * *p , 0.001
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The disconfirmation model The expectation model The performance model

Standard Standard Standard
Influences Coefficient Error Wald Coefficient Error Wald Coefficient Error Wald

Constant 21.22 1.33 0.85 2 3.05 2.02 3.00 2 2.47 1.47 1.57
Web site design features
Web site accessibility 0.07 0.25 0.08 0.45 0.89 1.60 2 1.13 0.90 1.59
Web site content vividness 20.14 0.25 0.32 2 0.14 0.19 0.57 2 0.41 0.92 2.72 *
Merchandise information content 20.32 0.21 2 .28 * 2 0.39 0.26 2.83 * 2 0.07 0.27 0.07
Web site service speed 20.44 0.20 4.80 * * 0.34 0.33 1.07 2 0.58 0.22 7.29 * *
Customer responsiveness 0.15 0.17 0.78 2 0.14 0.23 0.36 0.04 0.22 0.03
Situational factors
Number of trials in placing order 0.51 0.22 5.40 * * 2 0.24 0.23 2.42 * 0.33 0.52 2.78 *
Number of previous visit to site 0.33 0.18 3.40 * 2 0.21 0.18 1.40 0.32 0.19 2.12
Product characteristics
Product purchased – books and cds 20.77 0.53 2.09 0.52 0.43 1.58 2 0.74 0.50 2.32 *
Amount ultimately spent on item 0.01 0.01 0.90 2 0.01 0.04 2.88 * * 2 0.02 0.01 0.03
Consumer characteristics
Web site stickiness 20.27 0.16 2.28 * 2 0.25 0.13 2.64 * 2 0.13 0.16 0.65
Online shopping frequency 0.11 0.57 1.13 0.14 0.53 0.07 2 0.56 0.59 0.90
Demographic characteristics
Number of children at home 20.16 0.20 0.61 0.13 0.20 0.36 2 0.21 0.20 0.90
Years of work experience 0.04 0.03 2.79 0.07 0.03 0.32 0.07 0.03 5.25 *
Model fit summary
x2 19.80 16.55 20.20
Significance 0.02 0.05 0.09
R2 0.39 0.19 0.17
Percent correctly classified 82.20 82.00 0.81
Notes: *p , 0.005; * * p , 0.01; * * * p , 0.001
stock-out
Consumer

during a stock out

switching likelihood
Determinants of web site
33

Table VI.
response to
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34
37,1

a stock out
Table VII.
IJPDLM

exit likelihood during

Determinants of web site
The disconfirmation model The expectation model The performance model
Standard Standard Standard
Influences Coefficient Error Wald Coefficient Error Wald Coefficient Error Wald

Constant 2.68 1.33 0.27 2 0.59 2.19 0.07 20.18 2.12 0.01
Web site design features
Web site accessibility 20.01 0.35 4.05 2 0.56 0.52 1.14 20.95 0.37 6.78 * *
Web site content vividness 0.29 0.22 1.87 2 0.97 0.35 3.2 * 0.32 0.29 1.29
Merchandise information content 20.32 25 1.60 2 0.33 0.33 1.59 21.67 0.64 6.91 * *
Web site service speed 20.56 0.17 2.25 * 2 1.30 0.82 1.60 0.28 0.69 2.80
Customer responsiveness 20.47 0.27 2.95 2 0.35 0.31 1.52 20.28 2.12 0.01
Situational factors
Number of trials in placing order 0.34 0.32 1.08 2 0.74 0.50 2.21 20.48 0.42 1.32
Number of previous visit to site 0.23 0.11 4.36 0.38 0.19 4.00 * 0.44 0.20 5.02 *
Product characteristics
Product purchased – books and cds 20.25 0.57 2.19 * 0.06 0.52 0.01 22.12 0.42 1.32
Amount ultimately spent on item 0.21 0.11 1.96 0.04 0.01 0.41 0.01 0.02 0.08
Consumer characteristics
Web site stickiness 0.02 0.18 0.01 2 0.09 0.17 0.28 20.03 0.13 0.06
Online shopping frequency 20.85 0.72 1.40 2 0.64 0.70 0.85 20.86 0.70 1.54
Demographic characteristics
Number of children at home 0.10 0.22 0.19 2 0.03 0.23 0.01 0.18 0.23 0.24
Years of work experience 20.05 0.02 0.61 2 0.01 0.01 0.41 20.02 0.04 0.22
Model fit summary
x2 20.59 16.5 20.87
Significance 0.04 0.06 0.07
R2 0.38 0.18 0.19
Percent correctly classified 86.5 0.82 84.2
Notes: *p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01; * * *p , 0.001
 In the final set of influences in Table V, consumer characteristic, web site stickiness Consumer
was negatively linked with substitution likelihood (coefficient ¼ 2 0.21, p , 0.05) but response to
positively linked with the number of children at home. The negative coefficient for web
site stickiness suggests that item substitution likelihood decreased with stickiness or stock-out
loyalty to a particular web site, implying further that “loyalty” to a web site did not
translate to higher likelihood of buying a substitute on a web site during a stock-out.
One possible interpretation of this negative stickiness-substitution linkage is that 35
consumers’ tendency to stick to a web site and online purchasing decisions are related
but separate behavior constructs. Future research should explore this linkage in a more
controlled research environment. There was no theoretical basis for the linkage with
number of children at home and item substitution. One possible speculation may be
that shoppers with a larger number of children home may have been shopping for
items needed urgently and therefore felt the need to buy substitute items. Thus, a
potential interaction effects between urgency of the purchase and number of children at
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home may account for the linkage with size of children at home. However, urgency of
the purchase was not considered in the study.
Web site switching likelihood. The results for web site switching likelihood are
presented in Table VI. Focusing on the expectation confirmation-disconfirmation
model, two web site features, merchandise information content (coefficient ¼ 2 0.32,
p , 0.05) and service speed (coefficient ¼ 2 44, p , 0.01) were significantly related to
web site switching behavior in response to a stock-out. The negative coefficients
suggest that shoppers were less likely to switch web sites if the product information
content or the duration of the online ordering process met or exceeded their
expectations. This finding further clarifies the earlier linkage between web site
stickiness and out-of-stock reaction. It suggests that consumers do not leave a web site
in a stock-out situation, even though they are unlikely to substitute the item. It seems
intuitive to conclude that consumers who are loyal to a web site are not necessarily
leaving the site nor buying a substitute because of the stock-out. However, this
conclusion would not be valid if consumers are shoppers for more than one item, in
which case they would have reason to remain on the site.
Among situational influences, the number trials in placing the order
(coefficient ¼ 0.51, p , 0.001) and previous visits to a web site (coefficient ¼ 0.33,
p , 0.05) were both positively linked to web site switching likelihood. These findings
suggest that online consumers were more likely to switch web site if the order
placement time was not meeting expectations or if they were familiar with the site.
Among consumer characteristics, web site stickiness was negatively linked to web site
exit (coefficient ¼ 2 0.27, p , 0.05), again suggesting that loyalty to a vendor’s web
site decreases switching likelihood. This finding makes intuitive sense because, by
definition, loyalty to a web site implies unwillingness to switch web sites. Stickiness
could also be related to immediacy of need. An item that was needed quickly would
logically engender greater web site switching than one that the customer was willing to
wait for. However, immediacy of need was not considered in this study. Hence, future
research should address this issue.
Exit from cyberspace. The results of the multinomial logit analysis for exit likelihood
are presented in Table VII. Web site service speed (coefficient ¼ 2 0.56, p , 0.05) type
of product ultimately purchased or shopping for (coefficient ¼ 2 0.25, p , 0.05) were
significantly associated with exit likelihood. Both influences are negative, suggesting
 IJPDLM that meeting or exceeding shoppers’ order processing service speed expectation
37,1 reduced the likelihood of leaving the internet delivery system, especially when
consumers were shopping for low priced items, such as CDs and books. Table VII also
shows that the likelihood of exiting cyberspace was not associated with any of the
situational factors studied.

36 Comparative influences on out-of-stock behaviors

Strong support for the influence of web site expectation confirmation-disconfirmation
judgments on consumer out-of-stock behaviors indicates that online consumers reacted
to a stock-out on the basis of how much their web site service expectations were met,
not simply their expectations before or after the stock-out event. The effects of web site
confirmation-disconfirmation on out-of-stock choice decisions were almost matched by
the effects of other situational factors as explained below.
Item substitution behavior. The most significant positive influence item substitution
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behavior in response to a stock-out was merchandise information content of the web

site. This finding suggests that low search cost encouraged consumers to formulate
their expectations by searching for merchandise information so that their final
expectations seem to be closer to reality. However, the likelihood of substituting an
item decreased when consumers’ expectations of web site accessibility and customer
responsiveness were not met.
Additionally, consumers’ tendency to substitute an item in response to a stock-out
was also influenced by a few situation factors. They were more likely to substitute an
item if they were buying a standardized low-priced item, but less likely if they were
shopping for high priced items or they were loyal to the web site.
Web site switching behavior. The results also show that consumers were likely to
switch to another web site if they wanted to buy an expensive item. Otherwise they were
less likely to switch to another web site if they had access to merchandise information on
the web site or they were loyal to that web site. This finding suggests that low search
cost discourages switching behavior. This is contrary to expectations. The negative
effect of web site stickiness on switching behavior confirms previous findings that store
loyalty discourages switching behavior in retail store context (Campo et al., 2000).
Exit from the internet. Similar to web site switching behavior, the study results
show that consumers were unlikely to exit the internet order fulfillment system in the
event of a stock-out except if they had higher than average order servicing time
expectations. Otherwise, the tendency to exit the online purchasing system actually
decreased when shopping for low priced items such as CDs.

Managerial implications
In the last few years firms have made considerable progress in improving their supply
chains to address the merchandise related delivery failures they faced in the early
years (Schlosser et al., 2006). Yet, consumers still do not trust the ability of online firms
to handle online transactions as well as they do with offline transactions and many are
still cautious about buying online (Schlosser et al., 2006). An implicit assumption of this
situation is that online consumers would respond differently from offline consumers in
the event of a merchandise shortage.
Our study results confirm to managers that the occurrence of a stock-out on a web site
had a more pervasive negative impact on the satisfaction and repurchase intentions than
 has been reported for offline consumers. For example, Zinn and Liu (2001) found no Consumer
difference in the satisfaction and repurchase intentions of offline consumers on the basis response to
of whether they experienced a stock-out. By contrast, our study showed that consumers
who experienced a stock-out were consistently more likely to report lower satisfaction stock-out
levels and lower repurchase intentions than consumers who did not experience a
merchandise stock out. This lower satisfaction repurchase intentions effect of a
stock-out was further evident in the lower substitution rate among online shoppers. For 37
example, while several studies of offline stock-out indicate item substitution rates of
over 60 percent (Walter and Grabner, 1975; Zinn and Liu, 2001), our study indicate lower
rates of 40 percent in both samples. One reason for the relatively lower substitution
effects of online stock-out may be the lower search switching cost associated with online
shopping. Thus, managers need to invest in web site tracking devices to better track
online customers on the basis of the expectations, satisfaction and substitution behavior
in order to identify which online shoppers substitute items during a stock-out, and the
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condition under which they either substitute an item or exit.

Second, although consumers’ level of merchandise expectations generally exceeded
performance, in the event of a stock-out, consumer item substitution behavior was
positively linked to several web site design features. In particular, product information
content and ease of access to a vendor’s web site had pervasive influences. Thus, web site
designers should provide merchandise related information beyond product category to
include the breadth and depth within a product page. Navigational features that allow
shoppers to compare a variety of product items by size, color, shape and labels would
enhance item substitution likelihood in a stock-out situation. However, detailed product
specific information would most likely enhance item substitution for low-priced items than
high-priced items. Thus, low-priced or mass merchandised items, such as books and CDs
should be given greater priority in web site design aimed to enhance item substitution.
Besides, enhancing item substitution, our results have important implications for
the coordination of merchandise policies among members of the same supply chain in
several ways. First, given the relatively greater likelihood of web site switching,
especially for high-priced items, collaborative information sharing on these items may
be an effective way to keep shoppers in the same supply chain. For example, vendors in
the same supply chain may link their web site to enhance product comparison for
fast-moving or out-of-stock items. This supply chain information-sharing feature
would encourage consumers to search for high priced out-of-stock items within the
same supply chain and, thus, increase item substitution likelihood in the same chain.
Moreover, the study demonstrates that consumers who are loyal to a web site tend to
substitute less during a stock-out. Yet, these consumers do not switch web site. This
finding implies that web site loyalty and item substitution are not as related as would
be expected in offline stores. Thus, managers would not benefit from targeting
consumers who are loyal to their web site in formulating merchandise policies aimed at
increasing item substitution behavior. Perhaps, consumers shift to other online
activities, such as browsing and chatting when they encounter a stock-out. Or perhaps,
provision of good information about possible substitutes would preserve an immediate
sale and, thus, enhance the present value of the customer’s business.
Finally, demographic characteristics seem to have limited effect on web site
out-of-stock behaviors, as in the case of offline supply chain outlets (Zinn and Liu,
2001).
 IJPDLM Limitations and future research
37,1 This study focuses on consumer reaction to a single stock-out, not the cumulative
effects of a stock-out. This limitation was imposed on the study to allow for a focus on
the disconfirmation process for a complete online transaction. Pretest results
showed that eliciting information on complete disconfirmation process for two or three
transactions showed significant demand effects and required a different design beyond
38 the scope of this study. Thus, future research should build on this study by considering
the cumulative nature of stock-out using an appropriate research design, such as
experimental design, to capture the effects of repeated stock-out on consumer reaction.
Second, because of sample size limitations, this study does not make a distinction
between consumers who left the site with the intention to return versus those who left
the site with the intention not to return. The former does not affect stock-out cost while
the latter represents a lifetime sales lost. Hence, caution should be exercised in
interpreting the result related to exit. Although we found a limited link between
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situational factors, consumer characteristics and exit likelihood, this may be a function
of combining delay exit and permanent exit. In addition, the low R 2 for web site design
features and situational factors suggest that other variables may also explain
consumer reaction to a stock-out event. Future research should therefore examine
variables were not considered in this study, such as sense of urgency, trust in the web
site and security concerns.
In conclusion, this study shows that an online stock-out is only mildly linked to
greater switching behavior and exit, despite low search cost of merchandise
information. In fact, the study shows that access to information at low cost actually
discourages switching from a web site, contrary to expectations. Moreover, the study
shows that consumer reaction to a stock-out by item substitution is linked as much to
web site characteristics as to situational factors, and is rarely correlated with consumer
demographics (Zinn and Liu, 2001). In this sense, consumers’ reaction to a single online
stock-out is only mildly different from their reaction to a single offline stock-out in a
retail context. Thus, the behavioral differences between online shopping and shopping
in a retail store may be insignificant to warrant future research.
Another issue that could be of interest in future research is how the web site was
selected in the first place. If a web browser was used to locate a site, then loyalty would
not be expected to be as high. Building loyalty would argue for the need to maintain
high in-stock positions to encourage first time shoppers on a site to return to that site in
the future. The level of a consumer’s online search sophistication could also affect
expectations about performance.

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Further reading
Forrester Research, Inc. (2000), available at: www.forester.com
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40
37,1

Table AI.
IJPDLM

Item descriptiona Reliability Source

Stock out encounter

Was the item (a) you were looking for available? Yes
() No () delivered in full: Yes () No ()
Stock out response behavior: how did you respond to
the above situation? NA NA
1. Bought a substitute item
2. Left the internet with the intention to buy later
3. Bought item from another web site
4. Left internet with the intention to return to same
web site
Web site accessibility Performance ¼ 0.79 Dadzie et al. (2005)
1. This site is easy to use and navigate
2. This retailer’s site is easy to access and find
Appendix. Study constructs and measures

3. This retailer’s site downloads correctly the first

time
Web site product informational content Performance ¼ 0.73 Dadzie et al. (2005)
1. This site tells you when the item is not available
2. This retailer provides rapid e-mail confirmation
3. This online retailer’s site provides products
information that is consistent with traditional
channels
4. This site is accessible at any time
Web site content vividness Performance ¼ 0.72 Dadzie et al. (2005)
1. This online retailer’s site is visually appealing
2. The color schemes of this retailer’s site convey
good feelings
3. Visuals and icons of this retailer’s site emphasize a
consistent theme
(continued)
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Item descriptiona Reliability Source

Web site service speed Performance ¼ 0.70, expectation ¼ 0.74 Dadzie et al. (2005)
1. Order placement time
2. Site displays order promptly
3. This site process orders promptly
Customer responsiveness Performance ¼ 0.67 expectation ¼ 0.73 Adopted from Stock and Lambert (2001)
1. This site handles customer’s complaints promptly
2. This online retailer accepts returned purchases
unconditionally
3. This site offers e-mail confirmation of orders
Web site stickiness 0.84 Newly developed
I do not feel emotionally attached to this web siteb
I would be happy to “stick” with this web site
I talk up this web site to my friends as a great web
site for shopping
I am proud to tell others that I visit this web site
Notes: aItem represent perceived performance. Items for expectations were presented by modifying the wording of these items. For example, “site should
be easy to use and navigate” represents the expectation version of the performance item “this web site is easy to use and navigate”; bitem is reversed coded
stock-out
Consumer

Table AI.
41
response to
 IJPDLM About the authors
Kofi Q. Dadzie is Associate Professor of Marketing and Logistics at the J. Mack Robinson College
37,1 of Business at Georgia State University. He holds a PhD in Business Administration with
Logistics specialization and MBA from the Ohio State University. His research interests include
the design of e-supply chains, collaboration in logistics supply chains, and marketing/logistics
practices in emerging economies. He is the editor of the Journal of African Business and Regional
Editor of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. His research has been published in the
42 leading logistics journals and several marketing journals. Kofi Q. Dadzie is the corresponding
author and can be contacted at: kdadzie@gsu.edu
Evelyn Winston is Associate Professor of Management at Clark Atlanta University. She
received her PhD in Business Administration with a specialization in Organizational Behavior
from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. Her research interests include
inter-organization issues in supply chain management, organizational culture and firm
performance, and management practices in emerging market economies in Africa, and. She has
published in Management Decision, the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing and The
Downloaded by Monash University At 21:44 22 February 2016 (PT)

International Journal of Logistics Management.

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