Information and its impact on consumers׳ reactions to restrictive return policies

•We evaluate the impact of return policy restrictiveness on a product assortment׳s attractiveness.•Consumer׳s information strategy when judging assortment attractiveness varies with return policy restrictiveness.•Assortment-related information reduces the negative effect of return policy restrictiveness on assortment attractiveness.

Designing an effective return policy is a difficult task for retailers. A very restrictive return policy can keep logistic costs down and prevent fraudulent returns but it can also have a negative effect on consumer behavior. Two experiments explore the role of assortment-related information in moderating consumers׳ negative reactions to more restrictive product return policies. The results demonstrate that consumers will view an assortment characterized by a more restrictive return policy as attractive to the extent that the assortment supports the information processing strategy triggered by the return policy.