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Option Framing and Product Feature Recommendations: Product Configuration and Choice
Author(s) -
Herrmann Andreas,
Hildebrand Christian,
Sprott David E.,
Spangenberg Eric R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.20666
Subject(s) - configurator , framing (construction) , subtractive color , business , marketing , framing effect , advertising , psychology , engineering , social psychology , persuasion , structural engineering , art , visual arts
When configuring a customized product, consumers must decide which product features to include. While many times firms allow consumers to add features to a base item (hereinafter referred to as additive option framing), it is also possible in some settings to remove undesired features from a fully equipped product (subtractive option framing). At the same time, companies not only provide different option‐framing formats, but also include recommendations from different sources such as what other customers have chosen previously or what is recommended by the company. This research provides evidence from two field experiments using a German car manufacturer's online configurator that customer recommendations in an additive option‐framing format affect customer spending equally well as subtractive option framing. A follow‐up experiment reveals that customer recommendations lead to increased positive thoughts about the recommended option, which stimulates consumers’ intention to buy the final product.