How product complexity affects consumer adoption of new products: The role of feature heterogeneity and interrelatedness

Andreas Fürst (), Nina Pecornik () and Wayne D. Hoyer ()
Additional contact information
Andreas Fürst: Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
Nina Pecornik: Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
Wayne D. Hoyer: University of Texas at Austin

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 2024, vol. 52, issue 2, No 4, 329-348

Abstract: Abstract Recent technological advancements allow companies to incorporate increasingly heterogeneous and interrelated features into their products, which heightens the products’ complexity. In four experimental studies conducted with two product categories, this article reveals similarities and differences in terms of how the heterogeneity and interrelatedness of product features influence consumer attitudes (i.e., expected product usability and capability) and, in turn, purchase intentions. Moreover, it shows that both neglected dimensions of product complexity affect the corresponding influence of the number of product features but do so in considerably different ways. The findings suggest that companies can foster consumer adoption by deemphasizing a product’s feature heterogeneity, thereby avoiding low expected product usability, and by emphasizing its feature interrelatedness, thereby promoting high expected product capability. This article provides insights into how companies can manage the complexity of products during both product design (i.e., before market launch) and product advertising and selling (i.e., after market launch).

Keywords: Product features; Product complexity; Product configuration; Product design; New product development; Consumer adoption; Feature fatigue (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11747-023-00933-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:joamsc:v:52:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s11747-023-00933-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... gement/journal/11747

DOI: 10.1007/s11747-023-00933-7

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science is currently edited by John Hulland, Anne Hoekman and Mark Houston

More articles in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().