Attribute Categorization and Layering Effects on Product Design Evaluations

Although convergence of attributes has been frequently applied as a product development strategy, its effects on consumers’ perceptions, attitudes and inferences have not been sufficiently studied. Previous research has shown that although increasing the number of features included in a product may be appealing for some customers, it may also have downsides for others by causing feature fatigue (i.e., the detrimental effect of loading products with numerous features). In this study, I examine how usage of attribute categorization and layering in product design affects consumer perceptions of product evaluations, attribute inferences, product usability and capability in the absence or presence of attribute descriptions. I find that usage of attribute categorization and layering in multi-attribute products enhances customer perceptions on product evaluations, inferences, product capability. I also find that in the presence of diagnostic attribute information, the effects of exterior design are eliminated.