Store flyers are one of the most important media used to feature retail and manufacturer promotions. Yet the body of research on their effectiveness on customer behaviour demonstrates significant gaps. We addressed this by conducting a field experiment with over 9000 members of a retailer's loyalty programme to identify what drives customers to read flyers and understand how flyer distribution and readership impact upon customer purchase behaviour. The results show that flyer distribution and flyer readership do not seem to change purchase behaviour. However, they confirm that flyer proneness, loyalty to the retailer, subscription to its newsletter, and household size all positively contribute to the likelihood of flyer readership. Our findings thus call upon retailers to significantly revise their flyer distribution strategy and reconsider the role of store flyers within their communication and marketing strategies.

商店传单是用于展示零售和制造商促销活动的最重要媒体之一。然而，关于其对客户行为有效性的研究表明存在重大差距。我们通过对零售商忠诚度计划的 9000 多名成员进行现场试验来解决这个问题，以确定是什么促使客户阅读传单，并了解传单分发和读者群如何影响客户购买行为。结果表明，传单分发和传单读者群似乎并没有改变购买行为。然而，他们证实，传单倾向、对零售商的忠诚度、对其时事通讯的订阅以及家庭规模都对传单读者的可能性产生了积极的影响。