The Effect of Experiential Analogies on Consumer Perceptions and Attitudes

By comparing a product (e.g., a sports car) to a disparate experience (e.g., a first kiss), an analogy has the power to shift focus from objective information, such as product functionality and performance, to the evaluative, emotional and multi-sensory information associated with the product experience. This shift from objective product knowledge to subjective experience enables the identification of base preference (i.e., a consumer’s liking for the comparison experience) as an important moderator of analogical persuasiveness. Additionally, the emotional knowledge transfer perspective utilized in this research contributes to understanding the role of emotional knowledge and experienced emotion in analogical thinking.

Citation:

Miranda Goode, Darren Dahl, and C. Page Moreau (2009) ,"The Effect of Experiential Analogies on Consumer Perceptions and Attitudes", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 674-675.