The Social Utility of Feature Creep
Citation: Debora V.Thompson, Michael I.Norton (2011/06/01) The Social Utility of Feature Creep. Journal of Marketing Research (RSS)
DOI (original publisher): http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.48.3.555
Semantic Scholar (metadata): http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.48.3.555
Sci-Hub (fulltext): http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.48.3.555
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): The Social Utility of Feature Creep
Download: http://journals.ama.org/doi/abs/10.1509/jmkr.48.3.555
Tagged: impression management (RSS), social influence (RSS), conspicuous consumption (RSS), signaling (RSS), product features (RSS)
Summary
A recent trend across many product categories is bundling a variety of product features into a single multi-purpose device capable of a sometimes astounding number of functions. The literature has described this trend as “feature bloat” or “feature creep”. The authors investigate whether this seemingly suboptimal behaviour may actually confer benefits when factoring in the social context of consumption through four studies.
In the first study, the authors demonstrate that the number of chosen product features can influence absolute interpersonal judgements. Participants evaluated consumers who chose feature-rich products more positively than those who did not. Importantly, the positive effect of feature seeking behaviour on person perception was not contingent on the presence of specific features but rather on the mere knowledge that in general, a consumer prefers a higher number of features. In addition, these results indicate that the social utility from additional features extends beyond inferences of wealth, signalling more nuanced individual traits, such as a person’s technological savvy and openness to new experiences. In second study, the authors examine and show that priming consumers to think about the impressions others are forming of them significantly increases the attractiveness of feature-rich products.
In third study, the authors demonstrate that consumers’ expectation of having their choices evaluated by others significantly increased the attractiveness of feature-rich products, even when these participants were made aware of the decreased usability of such products through direct experience. The authors found that after a product trial, preferences shifted toward feature-rich options when choices were public and toward feature-poor options when choices were private. In addition, the findings indicate that consumers expect feature-seeking behaviour to confer social utility beyond inferences of wealth and regardless of their own personal preferences for additional features. Among the four evaluative dimensions measured, overall impression and perceptions of openness had the greatest positive impact on feature-seeking behaviour. Finally, in fourth study, the authors show that when participants envisioned having their choice evaluated by others, they shifted their preferences toward feature-rich products; conversely, when they envisioned having a product usage experience evaluated by others, they had an incentive to avoid additional features. In such situations, the usability costs of additional features can hinder a person’s public performance, and consumers strategically choose fewer features to cultivate positive impressions on others.
