The Effects of a Point-of-Purchase Display on Relative Sales: An In-Store Experimental Evaluation

Abstract

An in-store experiment was performed to investigate the effects of a point-of-purchase display on unit sales of dishwashing liquid. The experimental conditions consisted of periodically placing two copies of the same display in convenience stores and supermarkets. The results were unanticipated; point-of-purchase displays did not change relative sales of the target brand. An antecedent intervention such as a point-of-purchase informational display is not sufficient to change consumer choice in the presence of utilitarian reinforcement in the form of a lower-priced competing product.