“Is This Product Really New?” a Study on the Effect of Category Information and Certainty on Newness Evaluations of New-To-Market Products

“Is this product really new?” A study on the effect of category information and certainty on newness evaluations of new-to-market products

Miranda Selinger         Darren W. Dahl           C. Page Moreau

University of               University of               University of

British Columbia         British Columbia         Colorado

Research shows that new products motivate consumers to pay more, stimulate word of mouth, enhance receptivity to marketing activities, and speed adoption and diffusion. Yet, little research has been conducted to determine how consumers recognize and define newness in new-to-market products. Two experiments demonstrate that perceptions of newness for new products are contingent on the consumer’s ability to identify with certainty an appropriate category anchor. Our findings suggest that categorization provides a point of reference from which an appropriate contrast of new from old can be made.  When consumers are uncertain about a product’s category, evaluations of newness are diminished.

Citation:

Miranda Selinger, Darren Dahl, and Page Moreau (2006) ,"“Is This Product Really New?” a Study on the Effect of Category Information and Certainty on Newness Evaluations of New-To-Market Products", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 33, eds. Connie Pechmann and Linda Price, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 323-323.