In Pursuit of Imperfection: How Flawed Products Can Reveal Valuable Process Information

We investigate circumstances where consumers seek flawed consumption opportunities. We find that consumers who care about production processes (e.g., organic farming) may choose imperfect products (e.g., blemished apples) or enjoy imperfect experiences (e.g., poorly written emails). Five studies reveal imperfections help resolve uncertainty about difficult to verify production processes.

Citation:

Erin P Carter and Peter McGraw (2018) ,"In Pursuit of Imperfection: How Flawed Products Can Reveal Valuable Process Information", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 46, eds. Andrew Gershoff, Robert Kozinets, and Tiffany White, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 57-52.