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Product Entitativity: How the Presence of Product Replicates Increases Perceived and Actual Product Efficacy
[Perceptions of the Collective Other]

Author

Listed:
  • Noah Vanbergen
  • Caglar Irmak
  • Julio Sevilla
  • Darren W Dahl
  • J Jeffrey Inman
  • Leonard Lee

Abstract

Many studies document the benefits of presenting smaller quantities of products, particularly when differences in quantity relate to availability or popularity. However, we know less about the effects of quantity differences in contexts unrelated to scarcity, such as when products are depicted in ads, special displays, or online retailing settings. The present research builds on extant literature by investigating a previously unexplored question: How do product perceptions differ depending on whether consumers view a single unit in isolation, versus as one unit among identical product replicates? Five experiments demonstrate that presenting multiple product replicates as a group (vs. presenting a single item) increases product efficacy perceptions because it leads consumers to perceive products as more homogeneous and unified around a shared goal. That is, consumers perceive greater product entitativity when viewing a group of product replicates. As a result, the perceived and actual ability of products to deliver that function (i.e., product efficacy) increases.

Suggested Citation

  • Noah Vanbergen & Caglar Irmak & Julio Sevilla & Darren W Dahl & J Jeffrey Inman & Leonard Lee, 2020. "Product Entitativity: How the Presence of Product Replicates Increases Perceived and Actual Product Efficacy [Perceptions of the Collective Other]," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 47(2), pages 192-214.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:47:y:2020:i:2:p:192-214.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jcr/ucaa006
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Lu Monroe Meng & Tianhui Fu & Shen Duan & Yijie Wang & Yushi Jiang, 2024. "The overlapping effect: impact of product display on price–quality judgments," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 107-128, March.
    2. Smith, Robert W. & Keller, Kevin Lane, 2021. "If all their products seem the same, all the parts within a product seem the same too: How brand homogeneity polarizes product experiences," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 698-714.
    3. Yong-Wan Park & Paul M. Herr & Byung Cho Kim, 2023. "Meaningless procedures can be meaningful for information security: consumer use of single and multiple cues in information security inferences," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 449-461, September.
    4. Yuli Zhang & Hyokjin Kwak & Marina Puzakova & Charles R. Taylor, 2021. "Space between products on display: the impact of interspace on consumer estimation of product size," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1109-1131, November.

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