Trip chaining behavior in multi-destination shopping trips: A field experiment and laboratory replication

Models of consumer store patronage generally employ the economic theory-based assumption that, all else being equal, consumers seek to minimize travel distance. Moreover, consistent with reference-dependent theory, findings from recent experimental research conducted in a controlled lab setting suggest that holding travel distance constant, the configuration of stops along multi-stop routes may also impact store-patronage decisions. However, given the use of simplified map configurations of multi-stop routes, along with the stimulus-based nature of the laboratory exercise, the external validity of these findings are open to question. Thus, the purpose of the three experiments in the present paper is to replicate and test the external validity of the reference-dependent predictions supported in previous research. In experiment one, consumer travel preferences are examined in a memory-based field experiment with results replicating those of earlier research. In experiment two, results are again replicated, but this time in a lab setting using realistic maps. Finally, experiment three provides a test of boundary conditions for the theory-consistent results of experiments one and two.