Tripat Gill
Executive Summary
Convergence in the electronics and communications sectors has enabled the addition of disparate new functionalities to existing base products (e.g., adding mobile television to a cell phone or Internet access to a personal digital assistant [PDA]). An important managerial issue for such convergent products (CPs) is what kind of new functionalities add more value to a given base. For example, a manufacturer of PDAs may wonder whether it would be a good idea to add satellite radio to it (i.e., a new functionality incongruent with the base) or whether it would be better to add electronic Yellow Pages (i.e., a new functionality congruent with the functions of a PDA)? In addition, does it matter whether the base is primarily associated with utilitarian consumption goals (e.g., a PDA) or with hedonic ones (e.g., an MP3 music player)? This research investigates the role of two factors—(1) the goal congruence between the added functionality and the base and (2) the nature of the base product (utilitarian versus hedonic)—on the evaluation of CPs. The author proposes that adding congruent functionalities to a base is associated with diminishing incremental value because of similar goals (e.g., adding electronic Yellow Pages to a PDA). Conversely, adding incongruent functionalities results in an asymmetric additivity effect in CPs. Specifically, adding an incongruent hedonic functionality to a utilitarian base (e.g., adding satellite radio to a PDA) is valued positively; whereas adding a (incongruent) utilitarian functionality to a hedonic base (e.g., adding electronic Yellow Pages to an MP3 player) is valued negatively. The latter asymmetry is because hedonic additions are perceived as enhancing the pleasure of using a utilitarian base, but utilitarian additions may dilute the existing image of a hedonic base. As a result, CPs with a utilitarian base gain more from an incongruent (hedonic) addition than a congruent one, whereas those with a hedonic base gain less from an incongruent (utilitarian) addition than a congruent one.
These proposed effects are verified in an experimental study conducted with a large-scale, representative sample of the U.S. population. The study uses novel CPs that added congruent or incongruent functionalities to a utilitarian versus hedonic base product (i.e., a PDA versus an MP3 player, respectively). In addition, the moderating role of prior ownership of the base is also explored (i.e., whether owners versus nonowners of the base product evaluate CPs differently). The effect of goal congruence is stronger for the owners than for nonowners but only for CPs with a hedonic base, not for ones with a utilitarian base. These findings suggest that managers should consider the goal congruence between the added functionality and the base when developing new CPs. Moreover, the potential dilution effect of adding utilitarian functionalities to a hedonic base product should be a concern, especially among prior owners of the base. Further research on the generalizability of the current findings and on the potential moderators to the proposed asymmetric effect in CPs is warranted.
Biography
Tripat Gill is currently an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. He was previously at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland and at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He received his PhD from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) and his PGDM (MBA) from IIM Bangalore (India). His research interests are in new products that combine multiple functionalities, brand extensions, and the applications of evolutionary psychology in Marketing. He was recently awarded a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to investigate convergent high-technology products. His work has been published in several journals, including Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Business Research, and Psychology & Marketing. His current research is on the role of brand factors (including quality, breadth, and incumbency status) in the evaluation of convergent products.
Journal of Marketing, Vol. 72, No. 2, March 2008
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