Prior research has documented the g

Prior research has documented the generally negative consequences of out-of- stock (OOS) options, including those related to consumer responses to the OOS options themselves (e.g., Campo et al. 2000), the store (e.g., Schary and Christopher 1979), retailers’ financial outcomes (e.g., Sloot et al. 2005), or the shopping experience (e.g., Fitzsimons 2000). For example, Fitzsimons (2000) showed that consumers were less satisfied with the shopping experience and were more likely to switch stores when an attractive option was out of stock. However, extant research on consumer reactions to purchase situations with OOS options has been limited to those in which it is the target option that is unavailable—that is, the option consumers are considering purchasing and hence are focused on in their purchase decision. However, the literature is currently lacking an investigation into the effect of incidental, or previously unconsidered, OOS options on consumer preferences for target options. That is, in the above scenarios, how will the incidental out-of-stock alternatives that are de facto irrelevant to consumer decisions to purchase the chocolate cake, the Vantage Point movie tickets, or the house impact consumers’ preferences for these target options? The current research seeks to address this question.