Comprehending product attributes and benefits: The role of product knowledge and means-end chain inferences

✍ Scribed by Timothy R. Graeff

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 171 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0742-6046
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6793(199703)14:2<163::aid-mar4>3.0.co;2-b

✦ Synopsis

One hundred twenty consumers (classified as either higher or lower knowledge) read an advertisement for a camera described by either attributes or consequences, or both attributes and their related consequences. Thought listings coded for inferences at varying levels of abstraction corresponding to means -end chain theory revealed that most inferences were about self-relevant product consequences. Results also suggest that higher-knowledge consumers are more likely to infer cause-and-effect means -end associations during product comprehension. Further, compared to inferences about concrete attributes and features, inferences about self-relevant product consequences had stronger effects on consumers' brand attitudes, but not ad attitudes.