Consumer desire for control as a barrier to new product adoption

Abstract

This research examines the relationship between desire for control and acceptance of new products. We hypothesize that desire for control—the need to personally control outcomes in one's life—acts as a barrier to new product acceptance. Three experiments provide support for this hypothesis. This effect holds when desire for control is high as a dispositional trait (Studies 1 and 3) and when it is situationally induced (Study 2). We also identify an intervention to increase new product acceptance based on the idea that new products threaten one's sense of control. Specifically, framing new products as potentially enhancing one's sense of control increases acceptance of new products by those high in desire for control (Study 3). This finding offers some evidence for the underlying process and helps guide managerial actions.

Strong Anxiety Boosts New Product Adoption When Hope Is Also Strong

“…Our work also augments prior work on planning by focusing on the effortful process of action planning—that is, mentally contemplating the set of actions that one will undertake to achieve a goal-congruent outcome and avoid anxiety-inducing ones. Whereas prior research finds that consumers’ desires for control can reduce new product adoption (Faraji-Rad, Melumad, and Johar 2017), our research suggests that action planning might enhance new product adoption by increasing perceptions of control. Action planning might be a useful construct for understanding not just new product adoption decisions but also planning in other contexts, such as resource planning.…”

“…Our research also augments work on perceived control. Prior work in marketing has studied threats to perceived control (e.g., Lembregts and Pandelaere 2019), feelings of low personal control (e.g., Cutright, Bettman, and Fitzsimons 2013), and internal locus of control (Faraji-Rad, Melumad, and Johar 2017; Price et al 2018). Research has also studied perceived control over objects (Wakslak and Kim 2015) as well as perceived control over life, time, and physical space (e.g., Han and Gershoff 2018).…”

How can live streamers enhance viewer engagement in eCommerce streaming?

“…Thus, while live stream shopping is facilitated by a live streamer, communication is actually taken place in multiway among the product owner, streamer, and viewers [17]. The interactive real-time nature of live stream shopping has been demonstrated to reduce the audience's lack of perceived control [18,19], and improve their consumption experiences and acceptance of branded products/services [20]. Increasing research demonstrates that live streaming enables an immersive experience and interpersonal connection even without any actual human contact [21,22].…”

Making the Right Decision: Intensifying the Worth of a Chosen Option

“…The success of commercials like Coca‐Cola's (e.g., The Coca‐Cola Company, 1971/2012), in which a group of people from around the world sing together, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke//And keep it company//That's the real thing,” speak to the powerful effects of wanting to partake in a group practice of consuming or even holding/possessing a product. But especially as consumers’ desire to maintain their sense of control in the marketplace increases (Faraji‐Rad et al., 2017), new marketing campaigns have begun to allow consumers to actively contribute to campaigns rather than passively observing them. We propose that these campaigns will be especially powerful when consumers feel like they are partaking in a “shared practice” with the group.…”