Mapping the bounds of incoherence: How far can you go and how does it affect your brand?

Abstract

Consumers often have to evaluate products comprising a combination of attributes that is not expected by them, given their beliefs about how attributes normally co-vary in the product category. Such an attribute combination implies that the claimed level of a product attribute is then different from what the consumer might infer, given the level of another attribute, resulting in what we call product incoherence. We develop a model to calibrate the effect of incoherence on perceptions, uncertainty, preference, and ultimately purchase. Our model can allow managers to determine consumers' acceptance for different positions in the multiattribute space, so they can optimize their product's posit..