Abstract: Prior research with consumable goods hasconsistently found that consumers have a preference for greater variety whenselecting items simultaneously as a bundle, rather than as a sequential seriesof individual decisions. However, digital information goods have a number ofimportant differences from consumable goods that may impact variety-seekingbehavior. In three experiments, we address two general research questions.First, as a precursor to studying digital goods, we disentangle the role ofbundle cohesion (i.e., item relatedness) from the role of timing (simultaneousvs. sequential choice) as factors in variety seeking with consumable goods.Next, based on differences between digital and consumable goods, we theorizedifferences in the behavioral effects of bundle cohesion and timing on varietypreferences for digital goods. The results show a reduction of influences uponvariety-seeking behavior with digital goods, providing important implicationsfor the sellers of such goods in contrast to what has been suggested forconsumable goods. Therefore, a key takeaway is that, for digital goods such asmusic, the use of consumer-driven bundling variations does not suggest anadvantage in terms of their ability to affect consumers' variety-seekingbehavior.
