The Unexpected Impact of User Manual At the Pre-Purchase Stage on Product Evaluation and Purchase Intention: an Exploratory Study

In order to better understand capability and usability of a product, an increasing number of consumers read user manuals at the pre-purchase stage. The objective of this exploratory research is (i) to understand the impact of reading user manual at the pre-purchase stage on product evaluation and purchase intention and (ii) to investigate mediating and moderating effects. In an experiment, we found that user manual exposure may positively influence product evaluation and purchase intention, as long as the perceived pedagogical quality of the manual is high. User manual evoked usage vividness and perceived customer education are mediating this effect.

Citation:

Benoit Aubert, Olivier Trendel, and Daniel Ray (2009) ,"The Unexpected Impact of User Manual At the Pre-Purchase Stage on Product Evaluation and Purchase Intention: an Exploratory Study", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 944-945.