RETAILING TO EXPERIENCED AND INEXPERIENCED CONSUMERS: A PERCEIVED RISK APPROACH

Since consumers are being provided with ever‐increasing amounts of information, there is an increasing need to study the way in which they handle purchasing information. Investigates the effect of buy‐frequency on one theory of consumer decision making: Perceived Risk Theory. Survey data from 100 consumers revealed that in general perceived risk decreased as buy‐frequency increased, but only for high‐value products and services and not as much as expected. High‐value services showed considerably less risk decrease as buy‐frequency increased than did high‐value products, possibly due to their heterogeneity. Experienced purchasers place more emphasis on pre‐purchase product trial and purchasing well‐known brands for high‐value goods and store image and brand loyalty for low‐value goods, than inexperienced purchasers. Discusses the implications for perceived risk measurement as well as retailing.