Heterogeneity of deal proneness: Value-mining, price-mining, and encounters

This study uncovers the heterogeneity of deal proneness in relation to the cost of deal shopping (e.g., time and effort) and shopping capital (i.e., skills and expertise in shopping). The possession of shopping capital determines the cost of deal shopping and how consumers take advantage of deals. Findings of in-depth interviews include: (1) different types of deal shopping—value-mining, price-mining, and encounters, (2) strategies of deal-prone consumers with a high level of shopping capital—creating shortcuts, prospective thinking, and engineering deals, and (3) the sources of deal gratification that result from different goals of deal-prone behaviors.