Product Entitativity: How the Presence of Product Replicates Increases Perceived and Actual Product Efficacy

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.

Speed Up, Size Down: How Animated Movement Speed in Product Videos Influences Size Assessment and Product Evaluation

“…Product display research has mainly focused on how “static” display features influence product judgment and evaluation (Patrick 2016; Sample, Hagtvedt, and Brasel 2020). Yet none of these “static” factors, such as display location and position (Cai, Shen, and Hui 2012; Chae and Hoegg 2013; Chae, Li, and Zhu 2013; Cian, Krishna, and Schwarz 2015; Deng and Kahn 2009; Janiszewski 1990; Sundar and Noseworthy 2014), display orientation (Deng et al 2016; Elder and Krishna 2012; Peracchio and Meyers-Levy 2005; Van Kerckhove and Pandelaere 2018), number of units (Madzharov and Block 2010; Vanbergen, Irmak, and Sevilla 2020), camera angle (Meyers-Levy and Peracchio 1992; Yang, Zhang, and Peracchio 2010), color (Hagtvedt and Brasel 2017; Lee at al. 2014, 2017), contrast (Huang et al 2019), density (Su, Wan, and Jiang 2019), shape (Chandon and Ordabayeva 2009; Chen et al 2019; Folkes and Matta 2004; Jiang, Su, and Zhu 2019; Raghubir and Krishna 1999; Sevilla and Kahn 2014; Wansink and Van Ittersum 2003; Yang and Raghubir 2005), realism (Kim, Choi, and Wakslak 2019), and visual concealment (Sevilla and Meyer 2020), is uniquely related to animated product movements in video ads.…”

“…Product display research has mainly focused on how "static" display features influence product judgment and evaluation (Patrick 2016;Sample, Hagtvedt, and Brasel 2020). Yet none of these "static" factors, such as display location and position (Cai, Shen, and Hui 2012;Chae and Hoegg 2013;Chae, Li, and Zhu 2013;Cian, Krishna, and Schwarz 2015;Deng and Kahn 2009;Janiszewski 1990; Sundar and Noseworthy 2014), display orientation (Deng et al 2016;Elder and Krishna 2012;Peracchio and Meyers-Levy 2005; Van Kerckhove and Pandelaere 2018), number of units (Madzharov and Block 2010;Vanbergen, Irmak, and Sevilla 2020), camera angle (Meyers-Levy and Peracchio 1992; Yang, Zhang, and Peracchio 2010), color (Hagtvedt and Brasel 2017;Lee at al. 2014Lee at al.…”

Consumers Believe That Products Work Better for Others

“…For example, research shows that highlighting the benefits of a product affects product efficacy beliefs and ultimately which products consumers will buy (Chae, Li, and Zhu 2013;Dawar and Parker 1994;Kupor and Laurin 2020). Crucially, consumers' product efficacy beliefs have been found to increase actual product efficacy, through the placebo effect (Brasel and Gips 2011;Irmak, Block and Fitzsimons 2005;Van Bergen, Irmak, and Sevilla 2020).…”

“…Likewise, advertisements that include visuals of the intermediate steps toward an intended benefit, such as showing gradual hair loss treatment results versus visualizing only the binary before-and-after results, will more persuasively communicate perceived product efficacy (Cian, Krishna, and Longoni 2020). So too will presenting multiple replicates of a product, as well as highlighting how many people produced it-both of these factors lead consumers to perceive products as more efficacious (Maglio et al 2020;Van Bergen et al 2020).…”

“…Our work contributes to the literature on perceptions of product efficacy. While prior research has identified several determinants of perceived product efficacy (e.g., Chae et al 2013;Van Bergen et al 2020;Zhu et al 2012), we added a social dose to this literature by showing that product efficacy judgments are sensitive to judgment-target. We found that on account of believing that products are more efficacious for others, consumers are more likely to buy a new product for others (study 6) and choose less of a product for others (study 7).…”