Experience Matters When Not Restricted: The impact of product type and COVID-19 restrictions on pop-up store visits
(A2024-119359)

AUTHORS

Nayoung Yoon, Department of Marketing, Aalto University; Jaewoo Joo, Department of Marketing, Kookmin University

ABSTRACT

By taking empirics-first research approach, we study the effect of product type and COVID-19 restrictions on pop-up store visits. This quasi-experimental study uses store traffic and store-entry ratios of four pop-up stores displaying different product types (i.e., experience goods or search goods) at varying times (before or after the COVID-19 restrictions). Our research shows that pop-up store visits were higher when a store displayed experience goods than search goods before the COVID-19 restrictions. However, the store visits to experience goods pop-up stores plummeted after the imposition of restrictions, higher than search goods, suggesting the restrictions’ stronger detrimental effect on experience goods. Our findings advance research on consumer behavior relating to pop-up store products and the impact of mobility restrictions on store visits.