TY - JOUR
T1 - A train of thought in product experientiality
T2 - working memory, distraction, and inconsistencies in cue order effects
AU - Offergeld, Tobias
AU - Martinez, Luis F.
AU - Ferreira, Aristides I.
N1 - Funding agencies#
FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia#
UID/GES/00315/2013#
UID/ECO/00124/2013#
UID/ECO/00124/2019#
POR Lisboa#
LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007722#
and POR Norte#
LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022209#
Social Sciences DataLab
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - The sequence of informational cues and the level of distraction have an impact on the judgment of a product's quality and preference. Two quasi-experimental studies (Ntotal = 340) investigate the influence of the force behind the processing of these cues – working memory (WM). Previous research found that, in the presence of a distractor, high WM individuals are more able to recall the initial cue, and thus derive their product judgment from the initial strong cue. Study 1 contradicts these findings and raises important methodological questions regarding the conceptualization of strong and weak cues. Specifically, commonly accepted strong cues (e.g., product reputation) might not influence consumers as expected. Additionally, in a sequence of product evaluation with high vs. low degree of experientiality, study 2 reveals that consumers tend to show a primacy effect that is stronger for higher levels of WM capacity. Moreover, in a sequence of assessing low vs. high degree of experientiality products, consumers reveal stronger recency effects, thus showing that WM reinforces this recency effect. Our findings have important implications for marketers by suggesting that consumers with high WMC are more able to process complex stimuli and retrieve previously presented information on a product quality. These consumers also have a higher tendency to retrieve more information from product scenarios with a high degree of experientiality.
AB - The sequence of informational cues and the level of distraction have an impact on the judgment of a product's quality and preference. Two quasi-experimental studies (Ntotal = 340) investigate the influence of the force behind the processing of these cues – working memory (WM). Previous research found that, in the presence of a distractor, high WM individuals are more able to recall the initial cue, and thus derive their product judgment from the initial strong cue. Study 1 contradicts these findings and raises important methodological questions regarding the conceptualization of strong and weak cues. Specifically, commonly accepted strong cues (e.g., product reputation) might not influence consumers as expected. Additionally, in a sequence of product evaluation with high vs. low degree of experientiality, study 2 reveals that consumers tend to show a primacy effect that is stronger for higher levels of WM capacity. Moreover, in a sequence of assessing low vs. high degree of experientiality products, consumers reveal stronger recency effects, thus showing that WM reinforces this recency effect. Our findings have important implications for marketers by suggesting that consumers with high WMC are more able to process complex stimuli and retrieve previously presented information on a product quality. These consumers also have a higher tendency to retrieve more information from product scenarios with a high degree of experientiality.
KW - Brand trust
KW - Cue order effects
KW - Dual-task interference
KW - Experientiality
KW - Product evaluation
KW - Working memory capacity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073724757&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101971
DO - 10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101971
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85073724757
SN - 0969-6989
VL - 53
JO - Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
JF - Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
M1 - 101971
ER -