Asking consumers to visualise product can backfire

Companies often ask consumers to visualise about a new product but its success depends on whether consumers picture themselves using a new product in the past or in the future, a new study shows.

The findings have important bearings for companies introducing new products to consumers.

Getting consumers to visualise using a new product helps if they picture themselves using the product in the past.

"But this does not work if consumers picture themselves using the new product in the future, which is the default perspective consumers tend to use when evaluating new products," said the authors.

The authors include Min Zhao from University of Toronto, Darren W. Dahl from University of British Columbia and Steve Hoeffler of Vanderbilt University.

For the study, consumers were asked to evaluate various new products like a tablet PC, a heart rate monitor, a vacation package or Google Glass.

When asked to picturise using a new product in the past, consumers were more interested in the product if they were given detailed and concrete information.

When prompted to visualise using a new product in the future, they were more interested if it was described in more general and abstract terms.

However, this effect was strongest when it was easier for consumers to visualise using a new product.

"The effectiveness of visualising using a product depends on the temporal perspective consumers take," the authors concluded.

The study appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research.