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Jack of All Trades or Master of One? Product Differentiation and Compensatory Reasoning in Consumer Choice

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  • Alexander Chernev

Abstract

This research examines consumer reactions to two common positioning strategies: a specialized-positioning strategy in which an option is described by a single feature, and an all-in-one strategy in which an option is described by a combination of features. The empirical data reported in this article demonstrate that a product specializing on a single attribute is perceived to be superior on that attribute relative to an all-in-one option, even when this attribute is exactly the same for both options. It is further shown that the observed devaluation of the all-in-one option can be mitigated by introducing another attribute on which the all-in-one option is inferior to the specialized option. (c) 2007 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

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  • Alexander Chernev, 2007. "Jack of All Trades or Master of One? Product Differentiation and Compensatory Reasoning in Consumer Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(4), pages 430-444, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:33:y:2007:i:4:p:430-444
    DOI: 10.1086/510217
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    Cited by:

    1. Trivedi, Minakshi & Sridhar, Karthik & Kumar, Ashish, 2016. "Impact of Healthy Alternatives on Consumer Choice: A Balancing Act," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 65-82.
    2. Chung, Myungjin & Saini, Ritesh, 2022. "Consumer self-uncertainty increases price dependency," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 40-48.
    3. Karl Taeuscher & Hannes Rothe, 2021. "Optimal distinctiveness in platform markets: Leveraging complementors as legitimacy buffers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 435-461, February.
    4. Gilles Grolleau & Naoufel Mzoughi & Angela Sutan, 2019. "Does advertising the green benefits of products contribute to sustainable development goals? A quasi‐experimental test of the dilution effect," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 786-793, July.
    5. Bachmann, Kremena & Meyer, Julia & Krauss, Annette, 2024. "Investment motives and performance expectations of impact investors," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    6. John R. Hauser & Steven M. Shugan, 2008. "Commentary—Defensive Marketing Strategies," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 85-87, 01-02.
    7. Jana Möller & Steffen Herm, 2021. "Perceptions of Green User Entrepreneurs’ Performance—Is Sustainability an Asset or a Liability for Innovators?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-12, March.
    8. Gunnarsson, Jonas, 2015. "Retailer Price Image - An Introduction and Literature Review," SSE Working Paper Series in Business Administration 2015:2, Stockholm School of Economics.
    9. Chen, Tong & Ma, Zhenfeng & Xiao, Meizhen & Qing, Ping, 2024. "Be careful of the sharp Edges! how and why circular versus angular shapes influence consumer adoption of new products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    10. Saerom Lee & Lisa E Bolton & Karen Page Winterich & Vicki MorwitzEditor & Lauren BlockAssociate Editor, 2017. "To Profit or Not to Profit? The Role of Greed Perceptions in Consumer Support for Social Ventures," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(4), pages 853-876.
    11. Robert Mai & Stefan Hoffmann & Wassili Lasarov & Arne Buhs, 2019. "Ethical Products = Less Strong: How Explicit and Implicit Reliance on the Lay Theory Affects Consumption Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 659-677, September.
    12. van Doorn, Jenny & Risselada, Hans & Verhoef, Peter C., 2021. "Does sustainability sell? The impact of sustainability claims on the success of national brands’ new product introductions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 182-193.
    13. Earl, Peter E. & Wakeley, Tim, 2010. "Economic perspectives on the development of complex products for increasingly demanding customers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1122-1132, October.
    14. Delmas, Magali A. & Gergaud, Olivier, 2021. "Sustainable practices and product quality: Is there value in eco-label certification? The case of wine," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    15. Hoffmann, Stefan & Mai, Robert & Lasarov, Wassili & Krause, Jan S. & Schmidt, Ulrich, 2019. "Hungry bellies have no ears. How and why hunger inhibits sustainable consumption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 96-104.

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