Lauren Kurtz Professor H Boyd BMGT350 Lec0301 29 April 2011 Research Experience Alternative Assignment 1 What was the main research question tested in this paper Why is this question interesting and different than what had been done previously in related work The main research question tested in this article is the debate between whether it is intelligent on behalf of companies to implement numerous features in products as opposed to creating several specialized products This paper focuses on why consumers choose products with a variety of special features even though they may not be as beneficial in the long run due to the difficulty of use This question is unique compared to previous work because it concentrates on lifetime value as opposed to feature fatigue 2 Using your own words describe the five key hypotheses that the researchers test regarding the relationship between the number of features and the feasibility vs desirability of a product How do they test this hypothesis Hypotheses one and two declare that perceptions of the product s capability increase H1 or decrease H2 based on the product s number of useful features increasing These hypotheses are tested through consumers evaluations of the product both before and after using the product Hypothesis three states that product usability can be a result of how knowledgeable a consumer is about the product Comparing usability rates between experts and ordinary customers tested this theory Hypotheses four and five claim that consumers will evaluate the product beforehand and after hand and either give more weight to it before H4 or after H5 based on the desirability of the promised benefits This hypothesis is tested through the consumers actual evaluations in retrospect to when they used the product 3 What do the authors find Do these results support the hypotheses Why or why not The authors find that before actually using the product the knowledge that there was a great deal of features led to positive faith in the product by the consumers This foreshadowing proved to have a stronger affect than the product usability This theory yields a positive net effect for the authors On the other hand when users actually operated the products the features were overwhelming and yielded negative effects on the users resulting in a negative net effect This supports hypothesis four because it supports the fact that consumers feel powerfully about reviews before trying products themselves 4 Discuss one application of the results of this research for marketing practitioners or consumer well being that the authors have NOT addressed in their discussion One factor of this study that was not applied is the effect that consumers personal resources or relations can have on their opinions and decisions For instance a consumer s parent or close friend may give a negative review about a product that causes the consumer to feel dismissive or indifferent toward the product Although this study was not tested it is possible that these relationships can greatly affect a consumer s feelings toward a product
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