Premium
Seeing Is Believing (Too Much): The Influence of Product Form on Perceptions of Functional Performance
Author(s) -
Hoegg JoAndrea,
Alba Joseph W.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of product innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1540-5885
pISSN - 0737-6782
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5885.2011.00802.x
Subject(s) - feature (linguistics) , product (mathematics) , perception , function (biology) , process (computing) , new product development , computer science , marketing , cognitive psychology , psychology , business , mathematics , linguistics , geometry , neuroscience , philosophy , evolutionary biology , biology , operating system
The present research investigates the manner in which product form communicates functional performance, and examines how the form of a product can alter judgments about feature function. In a series of experiments, product form is pitted against objective information about feature function to understand how conflicting visual and verbal cues are reconciled. The findings indicate that when a product's form suggests a particular level of functional performance, consumers naturally incorporate that information into judgments of feature performance, even when presented with conflicting feature information from an objective source. The role of consumer attention in the process is also explored. The results suggest that product developers may be able to improve perceived performance by focusing design efforts and marketing communications on specific features that visually communicate functionality.