Product Choice and the Importance of Aesthetic Design Given the Emotion‐laden Trade‐off between Sustainability and Functional Performance

This paper investigates the trade‐off decision that consumers face when choosing between a product that is perceived to be more sustainable (i.e., more socially and environmentally responsible) and another product that instead is perceived to offer superior functional performance. Prior research has demonstrated that consumers often believe that there is a trade‐off between sustainability and performance, and in some cases, this trade‐off may be real and not just perceived. The objectives of the current research are to understand the mediators and moderators of this trade‐off choice and to illustrate one specific way in which to use this understanding to promote the consumption of relatively more sustainable products despite a perceived performance trade‐off. Two separate studies were conducted. The first employed a student‐based sample, whereas the second employed a nationally representative online sample. In both studies, participants were presented with a choice between two consumer products. One product was depicted as having superior sustainability characteristics (and average functional performance), and the other product was depicted as having superior functional performance (and average sustainability characteristics). Participants were asked to imagine that they were leaning toward choosing one product over the other, and then rated the degree to which they were feeling a set of possible emotions. Following these ratings, participants chose one of the products. The results suggest that consumers presented with such a trade‐off will tend to choose the product with superior functional performance over the product with superior sustainability characteristics, due to feelings of distress, until a minimum threshold of functional performance is achieved. The current research also shows that choice given this trade‐off depends upon the degree to which consumers value sustainability that, in turn, is mediated by consumers’ feelings of confidence and guilt. Further, based on an understanding of the emotions mediating choice in this context, the authors demonstrate how the effective use of product aesthetic design can improve the relative choice likelihood of sustainable products. Specifically, the authors demonstrate that superior aesthetic design has a disproportionately positive effect on the choice likelihood of sustainability‐advantaged (versus performance‐advantaged) products due to the effect that superior aesthetic design has on overcoming the potential lack of confidence in sustainable products. These findings highlight the specific value of aesthetic product design in the context of marketing sustainable products and suggest that it is especially important for firms interested in marketing sustainable products to also develop market‐leading product aesthetic design capabilities

Design for affect: emotional and behavioral consequences of the tradeoffs between hedonic and utilitarian attributes

text“Design for Affect” as a research theme explores the mediating and/or moderating role of affect in the relationship between design and consumer behavior. This dissertation focuses on the product-elicited affect. It investigates pre-consumption and post-consumption consumer emotions and behavior as a result of the tradeoffs made between hedonic and utilitarian attributes. The work is presented as two essays. The first essay studies how the direction of the tradeoff between hedonic and functional attributes determines the dominant emotion (guilt or sadness) experienced by the consumer at the time of purchase. It also examines the behavioral consequences of the attribute tradeoffs on consumer choice and willingness to pay. The second essay investigates how the direction of the tradeoff between hedonic and functional attributes at the time of purchase in conjunction with the valence of the consumption experience impacts the type and intensity of the post-consumption emotions of delight and anger. It also compares and contrasts post-consumption delight with post-consumption satisfaction and postconsumption anger with post-consumption dissatisfaction in the context of their relative influence on word of mouth (WOM) behavior and repurchase intentions. The findings suggest that non-optimal combinations of hedonic and functional attributes with respect to customer requirements and the competing product can generate negative emotions of guilt or sadness for consumers. These negative emotions of guilt or sadness can motivate consumer behavior detrimental to a product’s market share and profitability. The direction of the tradeoff between attributes also impacts post-consumption emotions. In the case of a positive consumption experience, consumers who choose a more hedonic product over a more functional product are likely to experience a higher intensity of delight. However, consumers are likely to experience a higher intensity of anger when they choose a more functional product over a more hedonic product, and experience negative disconfirmation with functional attributes. In addition, the results show that the direction of the tradeoff does not impact post-consumption satisfaction and dissatisfaction. In general, consumers who are hedonically delighted and functionally satisfied with the product are more likely to indulge in positive WOM behavior and have higher repurchase intentions compared to consumers who are functionally delighted and hedonically satisfied.Business Administratio

Design for Affect: A Core Competency for the 21st Century

Consumers purchase products with the objective of reducing pain, increasing pleasure or both. Product aesthetics primarily contribute to enhancing consumer pleasure, and utilitarian attributes, such as product functionality, primarily help reduce consumer pain. So the question is how consumers choose between the goals of reducing pain and enhancing pleasure. In the case of functional dominance, consumers attach greater importance to fulfilling their minimum utilitarian needs over their minimum hedonic ones. By contrast, if consumers have to choose between two products, and one product meets their minimum functional requirement but exceeds their minimum aesthetic expectations, while the other meets their minimum aesthetic expectations but exceeds their minimum functional requirement, they select the product with superior aesthetics. A balanced design with an optimal combination of attributes and emotional experiences will reach a greater price on the market and insure higher profits

The Role of Hedonic Versus Utilitarian Benefits

K. Sivakumar and James Maskulka for comments on an earlier draft of this paper. The authors would also like to thank Roland Rust and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. 1 DELIGHT BY DESIGN