Impact of recent brand consumption on brand choice: The role of uncertainty

Consumers often face uncertainty during grocery shopping. Theory suggests that consumers deal with this uncertainty by relying on internal information sources and hence focus on their memories about the product. Prior research mainly focuses on the role of purchase history during brand choices. However, recent brand consumption can also be an important internal source with potentially different types of information. Yet, the role of recent brand consumption during brand choice decisions is still unknown. In this paper, we use a unique dataset combining data from consumption diaries and purchase scanners for almost 4,000 households to study the impact of recent brand consumption on current brand choices and the moderating impact of variables that influence households’ experienced uncertainty (i.e., brand price, the households’ budget strictness, and brand experience). We find that recent brand consumption has an important impact on brand choice decisions above and beyond purchase history. Moreover, the role of recent brand consumption becomes stronger in more uncertain situations (i.e., when the brand price is higher, when the budget is more strict, and when the household has less experience with the brand). Overall, our findings contribute to extant choice literature by revealing the pivotal role of recent brand consumption during brand choices and explicating key contingency factors.