The impact of collaboration unexpectedness on consumer curiosity through schema incongruity

The increasing prevalence and commercial success of unexpected brand collaborations, such as luxury brands partnering with mass-market entities, highlight a significant gap in understanding the psychological mechanisms that drive consumer engagement. This research draws on Schema Congruity Theory to examine how such surprising partnerships stimulate consumers’ information-seeking behavior. Across four experimental studies, the findings consistently demonstrate that unexpected brand collaborations elicit stronger intentions to seek information than expected, conventional partnerships. This primary effect is significantly mediated by perceived schema incongruity, particularly the need discrepancy consumers experience when encountering novel pairings. Moreover, this study reveals that the positive impact of unexpectedness on information seeking is heightened among consumers with a high tolerance for ambiguity and those possessing low category knowledge about the brands involved. These results extend the theoretical understanding of schema incongruity by identifying specific cognitive pathways and key individual-difference moderators in the context of inter-brand alliances. Furthermore, this study offers actionable insights for marketers to design strategic collaborations that foster consumer curiosity and information-seeking behaviors.