Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-21-2026
Abstract
People sometimes enjoy the thrill of the hunt, which implies search can generate joy in addition to costs. Some customers say they enjoy searching for unique items such as vintage T-shirts and luxury handbags, and managers at warehouse stores, thrift stores, and many online selling platforms say they design their store format to offer a treasure hunt experience. We develop a model in which customers enjoy searching for a treasure. Our model’s search utility function includes a term based on the treasure’s net value, a term based on the instantaneous likelihood of discovering treasure, and a constant term reflecting other factors such as social aspects of shopping and customers’ enthusiasm level for the product category. We derive the optimal product price and treasure hunt difficulty level. In equilibrium, for products with either very low or very high value, customers’ utility from visiting the store comes primarily from the thrill of the hunt.
Recommended Citation
Jane Gu, Cristina Nistor, Matthew Selove (2026) The Joy of Shopping: Thrill of the Treasure Hunt. Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.08105
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
INFORMS
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Management Science in 2026 following peer review. This article may not exactly replicate the final published version. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.08105.