Viele Unternehmen haben in den letzten Jahren die Anzahl der Varianten ihrer Produkte erhöht, um die vielfältigen Wünsche ihrer Kunden besser befriedigen zu können. Auf Basis entscheidungstheoretischer Überlegungen lassen sich Bedingungen formulieren, unter denen eine Ausdehnung der Variantenzahl positiv bzw. negativ auf das Verhalten der Kunden wirkt. Dabei spielt der Ansatz der "attribute alignability" eine zentrale Rolle. Anhand einer empirischen Studie, in deren Mittelpunkt ein Car-Konfigurator steht, kann gezeigt werden, wie die Anzahl von Produktvarianten das Entscheidungsverhalten der Individuen beeinflusst. In diesem Zusammenhang kommt es entscheidend darauf an, ob die Produktattribute "alignable" oder "non-alignable" sind. Hieraus ergeben sich konkrete Hinweise für die kundenorientierte Gestaltung von Produktsortimenten, die aus einem Grundprodukt und mehreren daraus abgeleiteten Varianten bestehen.
Produkteigenschaften sind zentral, da sie die Kaufentscheidung determinieren: Kunden erwerben jene Produkte, von denen sie sich eine Befriedigung ihrer Bedürfnisse versprechen. Die Nutzenevaluation der Individuen - d.h. die Abschätzung, ob und inwieweit ein Produkt die Bedürfnisse zu befriedigen vermag - erfolgt folgerichtig über die Perzeption und Beurteilung dessen Eigenschaften (Herrmann und Huber 2000b).
Existing research on product design has demonstrated the importance of aesthetics in generating favorable consumer responses. However, the literature has only recently begun to explore if and to what extent the impact of product design is influenced by brand strength. Whereas some research indicates that strong brands may benefit less strongly from aesthetically attractive designs, other research suggests that attractive designs are more persuasive when they are paired with a strong brand. In this research, these two competing predictions were tested through three studies with German car buyers. In Study 1, participants were exposed to a fictitious car that was paired with a randomly chosen brand name. In Study 2, participants were presented with a set of existing cars and were asked to choose one. Both studies yield converging evidence and show that product design and brands interact in a positive fashion, suggesting that attractive designs exert a greater influence on consumers' decision processes when they are accompanied by a strong brand. Study 3 extended these findings by demonstrating that strong brands only increase the impact of attractive designs when perceived risk is high but not when it is low.
Many firms use product configurators to enable customers to specify their desired products online. In such systems, defaults are pre-specified for levels of product features by the manufacturer or dealer. For example, when configuring a racing bike online, a default is predefined (e.g., the Shimano Ultegra model) for all required features (e.g., the gearshift levers). Such defaults, which may even adapt to previous choices, ensure that a functional and fully defined product emerges at the end of the configuration process. However, when designing sales systems, companies often fail to realize that these defaults also affect customer decision-making. We demonstrate the effect by a study that makes use of a fully simulated racing bike configurator. We find the following results: Moving the default of one feature (e.g. wheels) from the lowest to the highest level results in an increase in sales. In addition, the feature level defined as the default also acts as a reference point by increasing the sales of levels near to it. In order to maximize sales, the default should be set at the level of a feature that is between the medium and the highest price level. To conclude we discuss how manufacturers and dealers subtly yet powerfully influence the decision-making process with their sales systems.
This research focuses on a previously unexamined risk associated with the widely used new product development strategy of line extensions. Specifically, it explores consumer reactions when line extensions become too visually similar and examines both short-term and longer term strategies for solving the problem. Examined in the context of consumer durables, specifically, automobiles, the results show that consumers who make categorization mistakes when trying to distinguish between two visually similar product lines have more negative attitudes not only toward the product but also toward the parent brand. The results of Study 1 confirm that providing a design vocabulary that articulates the car's design features is effective in reducing consumer's categorization mistakes. In addition, results of Study 2 indicate that changes to the car's "eyes" (headlights) are more effective than changes to the car's "mouth" (grille) in helping consumers to differentiate among cars in the line.
