The effects of merchandise coordination and juxtaposition on consumers' product evaluation and purchase intention in store-based retailing

Many retailers attempt to juxtapose and coordinate complementary products in their stores on the basis of key attributes because good coordination of complementary items can provide consumers with relevant information for their evaluation of individual products. In addition, the aesthetic appeal and the social impression that good coordination offers can be transferred to the products themselves. On the basis of these theories, the authors test the effects of merchandise coordination and juxtaposition (vs. separation) on consumer behavior using actual clothing items as stimuli in a laboratory setting. The authors find that coordination affects consumers' evaluation of and purchase intention toward a target item only when the item is juxtaposed with a complementary item. This effect can be explained by the aesthetic response of consumers to and their social impression of a grouping of the items. Furthermore, in comparison with displaying the two items separately, juxtaposing them in a poorly coordinated manner appears to depress the target item's evaluation, though juxtaposing them in a well-coordinated manner does not seem to improve the evaluation.