Managerial implications of predicting purchase behavior from purchase intentions: a retail patronage case study

Services managers are dependent on forecasting purchase behavior when making resource allocation decisions. Purchase intentions are commonly used as a basis to forecast purchase behavior. This practice is, however, not without its critics. In a study of restaurant patrons, it was found that the patrons who expressed strong purchase intent and made a subsequent purchase demonstrated distinct attitudes differences when compared to those patrons who also expressed strong purchase intent but failed to make a subsequent purchase. The results suggest that the service manager could be misled, and therefore could make costly service mix mistakes, if purchase intent is used solely to model purchase behavior. Specific strategy implications are discussed.