Economic conditions may significantly affect households' shopping behavior and, by extension, retailers' and manufacturers' firm performance. By explicitly distinguishing between two basic types of economic conditions—micro conditions in terms of households' personal income and macro conditions in terms of the business cycle—this study analyzes how households adjust their grocery shopping behavior. The authors observe more than 5,000 households over eight years and analyze shopping outcomes in terms of what, where, and how much they shop and spend. Results show that micro and macro conditions substantially influence shopping outcomes, but in very different ways. Microeconomic changes lead households to adjust primarily their overall purchase volume—that is, after losing income, households buy fewer products and spend less in total. In contrast, macroeconomic changes cause pronounced structural shifts in households' shopping basket allocation and spending behavior. Specifically, during contractions, households shift purchases toward private labels while also buying and consequently spending more than during expansions. During expansions, however, households increasingly purchase national brands but keep their total spending constant. The authors discuss psychological and sociological mechanisms that can explain the differential effects of micro and macro conditions on shopping behavior and develop important diagnostic and normative implications for retailers and manufacturers.

经济状况可能会显着影响家庭的购物行为，进而影响零售商和制造商的公司业绩。通过明确区分两种基本类型的经济条件——家庭个人收入的微观条件和商业周期的宏观条件——本研究分析了家庭如何调整他们的杂货购物行为。作者在八年的时间里观察了 5,000 多个家庭，并根据购买的物品、地点和数量来分析购物结果他们购物和消费。结果表明，微观和宏观条件会显着影响购物结果，但方式却大不相同。微观经济的变化导致家庭主要调整他们的整体购买量——也就是说，在失去收入后，家庭购买的产品更少，总支出也更少。相比之下，宏观经济变化导致家庭购物篮分配和消费行为发生明显的结构性变化。具体而言，在经济收缩期间，家庭将购买转向自有品牌，同时也比扩张期间购买并因此支出更多。然而，在扩张期间，家庭越来越多地购买民族品牌，但总支出保持不变。