A report released Tuesday by the University of Colorado Boulder and Brown University classifies consumers based on the amount of information they require about new and unusual products.
“There are these two different types of consumers,” said lead author Phil Fernbach, assistant professor of marketing . “On these two sides, consumers differ in the amount of detail that makes them feel like they understand and – because of that feeling of understanding – the amount of detail that will make them prefer a product.”
Researchers say the study results can help consumers make better decisions.
They described the first group as “explanation foes,” defined as those who want minimal details about new and unusual products. The second type wants deep and detailed explanations about the new and unusual products. Researchers called this group “explanation fiends.”
“We’re not making a value judgment on whether it’s better to be an ‘explanation foe’ or ‘fiend’,” said Fernbach. “You don’t have to want to know how stuff works, but make sure that your intuition about whether you understand a product is based on objective information and not just feeling.”
In one part of the study, participants were given varying amounts of explanation for a new tinted food wrapper product.
“Explanation foes” highly rated their understanding and preference for the item when they read a simple description of how its “white coloring protects food from light that causes it to spoil, thereby keeping food fresh for longer.”
“Explanation fiends” highly rated their understanding and preference for the food wrapper when they read a more detailed description of how “atoms in the tinting agent oscillate when hit by light waves causing them to absorb the energy and reflect it back rather than reaching food, where it would break the bonds holding amino acids together, thereby keeping the food fresh for longer.”
The study found that “explanation foes” – the most common type of consumer – tend to have an inflated sense of understanding about novel products.
However, their heightened perception disappears and their willingness to pay decreases when they attempt to explain how a product works.
“Explanation fiends” tend to have a more conservative sense of understanding about novel products.
The study also yields advice for marketers.
“Marketers should target these different consumer groups with different types of explanations,” said Steven Sloman, a study co-author and professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences at Brown University.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter.com/howardpankratz
