<p>Little is known about the impact of incidental stockouts on consumer sentiment. This gap is particularly troubling as consumers around the globe rely on in-store displays to shop, with unplanned buying making up the majority of all retail consumption. In this paper, we apply association theory to explain why the effect of an exposure to incidental stockouts varies by country. It negatively affects consumers in regions without prior episodes of stockouts but has no detectable impact on consumers in areas that have experienced empty shelves. In study 1, by analyzing macro market data, we show that a reduction in retail stocks highly correlates with heightened consumer anxiety over time. In studies 2a and 2b, we demonstrate that this effect is explained by association theory and varies by cultural context—in our case, in the UK and Mexico, respectively. Study 2a shows that where empty shelves are paired with dramatic events, the exposure to it generates consumer anxiety. Study 2b corroborates previous results by showing that in countries where notable supply chain disruptions have happened the conditioning effect weakens. Our findings suggest that the service experience in retailing could be improved by covering empty shelves, for instance, with printed images of a fully stocked shelf.</p>