The paper investigates the premise that bundling prompts consumers to purchase more than they ordinarily would. Two theoretical justifications for increased purchasing with bundling are reviewed, and an experiment regarding consumer evaluation of bundling is reported. Anomalies in the experimental results demonstrate that bundles appear to create contexts that influence evaluation and choice, and some support for increased purchasing was found. Further research is needed to understand more fully the bundle context, the effects created and the process evoked.
Key words Bundling - Evaluation - Choice
I thank Robert J. Dolan and Peter H. Farquhar for their many contributions. I also thank Billur Dowse and Mark Indelicado for their helpful research assistance.