How U.S. consumers view in-store promotions

Most sales promotion analysis, either at the external-to-the-store or in-store level, has been conducted based on what marketers have done and how consumers have responded in specific retail situations and for specific promotional techniques. Most studies, therefore are reported as, point-in-time and point-of-place specific, historical, after-the-fact results and imply a consumer preference for the measured activity. This paper provides a holistic view of how U.S. consumers regard all forms of promotion, both external-to-the-store in the form of 31 media alternatives and 23 in-store techniques across thirteen broad product categories. Data comes from twice a year online studies of representative groups of U.S. consumers, conducted since 2002. Consumers report on which in-store activities most influence their purchase decisions. From that, predictive models of consumer response to alternative promotional combinations are developed using CHAID analysis. This predictive approach is superior to traditional after-the-fact measures.