Designed to Learn: How Category Design Influences Consumer Learning, Satisfaction and Choice

Vast quantities of product information are available in the marketplace, but recent research has demonstrated that too much information can have a deleterious impact on consumer learning. This research demonstrates that category design (grouping products in terms of taxonomic or thematic similaritie...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Poynor, Cait, Wood, Stacy
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Customer satisfaction
Information processing
Learning
Product choice
Shopping
Studies
Taxonomy
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Summary:Vast quantities of product information are available in the marketplace, but recent research has demonstrated that too much information can have a deleterious impact on consumer learning. This research demonstrates that category design (grouping products in terms of taxonomic or thematic similarities) offers a novel means of addressing this problem. Two experiments demonstrate that organizing a retail assortment in thematic as opposed to taxonomic groupings increases learning for expert consumers but not for novices. Interestingly, this change in organization, via its impact on perceived effort, also improves experts' choice quality and increases their shopping satisfaction.
ISSN:0098-9258