The Effect of Periodic Structure in Household Visiting Patterns

Maintaining a strong repurchasing cycle may be not easy for households, because such routinization requires a significant amount of self-control against consumption uncertainties, external shocks and other schedule conflicts. Are households with “structural” repurchase patterns associated with better self-control, or they simply face constraints which limit their timing choices? We investigate household repurchase periodicity and its impact on product choices using scanner datasets in the Yogurt and Carbonated Beverage categories. Product-market level analysis shows that “structural households”—households with strong periodic purchase patterns—are associated with weaker consumer inertia and have more product switches recorded. However, weak evidence shows that such improved decision making can be attributed to self-control; the data is more consistent with the explanation that structural households are more easily satiated and prefer more variety in product choices.