Making Products Feel Special: When Metacognitive Difficulty Enhances Evaluation

More than 200 studies suggest that metacognitive difficulty reduces the liking of an object. In contrast to those findings, the authors demonstrate that the effects of metacognitive experiences on evaluation are sensitive to the consumption domain. In the domain of everyday goods, metacognitive diff...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of marketing research Vol. 47; no. 6; pp. 1059 - 1069
Main Authors POCHEPTSOVA, ANASTASIYA, LABROO, APARNA A., DHAR, RAVI
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chicago American Marketing Association 01.12.2010
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Advertising research
Automobiles
Brie cheese
Consumer behavior
Consumer goods
Consumer research
Consumption
Consumption theories
Gourmets
Marketing
Metacognition
Perception tests
Studies
Typographic fonts
Uniqueness
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Summary:More than 200 studies suggest that metacognitive difficulty reduces the liking of an object. In contrast to those findings, the authors demonstrate that the effects of metacognitive experiences on evaluation are sensitive to the consumption domain. In the domain of everyday goods, metacognitive difficulty reduces the attractiveness of a product by making it appear unfamiliar. However, in the context of special-occasion products, for which consumers value exclusivity, metacognitive difficulty increases the attractiveness of a product by making it appear unique or uncommon. The authors reconcile their findings with prior research by positing that the effect of metacognitive experiences on evaluation depends on the naive theory people associate with product consumption. Four studies demonstrate the proposed effect and test for the role of lay theories in the interpretation of metacognitive experiences. The authors conclude with a discussion of theoretical and marketing implications.
ISSN:0022-2437
1547-7193
DOI:10.1509/jmkr.47.6.1059