The role of (mis)perceptions in product choice: evidence from a randomised trial in Zambia
This study examines whether small retailers are deterred from stocking products by misperceptions about their profitability.
Abstract
The authors designed a simple algorithm to identify products that were not stocked by many retailers despite being stocked and profitably sold by similar shops. They found that retailers not stocking the products generally expect the products to be unprofitable. They subsidized a randomly selected subset to stock the products and found that they earn comparable profits to those who stock the product at baseline.
This paper is part of the Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) programme.
Citation
Shenoy A and Park DS. 鈥楾he role of (mis)perceptions in product choice: evidence from a randomised trial in Zambia鈥� PEDL Research Note 2025