7.6 The Essence Conveyed by Origins, Creators and Products: How Consumers Perceive Value

Session Submission Type: Special Session

Session Overview

At the heart of consumption activity lies the idea that consumers navigate a complex marketplace as sense-makers and meaning producers. Oftentimes consumers consume not the physical product, but the idea it embodies. As consumption has increasingly moved from the physical to the conceptual (Ariely and Norton 2009), purchasing a shoe, a bag, or art involves not just the acquisition of the physical product but also the acquisition of meaning, stories, and expertise embodied in the product. How do consumers make sense of offerings today?
This session views each marketable entity through the lens of psychological essentialism (Gelman 2004; 2013; Medin and Ortony 1989) and suggests that these entities have an unobservable quality or an “essence” that identifies and differentiates them. Consumers, in their attempt to derive meaning, look for cues that help them discern this underlying “essence”. Origin dates, characteristics of the creators, history and even packaging can offer cues about the underlying essence – cues that are decoded to derive meaning and value.
For example, the first paper examines the “essence” of “heritage brands”. In this case, essence appears to be a function of not only the origin date (as is often assumed) but also other factors such as stories about the original creator’s intent, era-specific associations etc. Central to the thesis, however, is the notion of continuity or transfer of essence to the present times – a process that increases the value consumers perceive.
Essence can also be cued through communications. The second paper examines how stories about the creator’s lifestyle or the creative process can lead to essence retention or loss. Although an artist’s essence is unobservable, consumers nevertheless perceive artists to have greater essence when they are depicted as embracing solitude as opposed to seeking social connections. Solitude preserves a creator’s essence, and its subsequent transfer to creative output increases perceived authenticity and demand for these goods.
Although retention of essence might serve the company well if consumers value it, in some instances, it might be constraining. The third paper examines when a heritage brand’s essence can come in the way of innovations. Heritage branding typically links a product’s essence to the original intent of its creators. Innovations or deviations from this intent violate this original essence, leading to perceptions that the product is not true to its origins, and lower perceived value.
To the extent that the retention of essence is desirable, the fourth paper points to a potential mechanism by which the essence of a good can be lost. Perceptually, essence is contained and held intact through a product’s packaging. Such packaging provides a physical barrier that not only prevents contamination but also psychologically prevents the leakage of a product’s essence. Thus, absence of packaging can lead to loss of essence.
Collectively the four papers address the questions: a) How do subtle cues inform consumers about the essence of a marketable entity, and b) how does essence affect the perceived meaning, authenticity and value consumers derive from products in this increasingly complex marketplace of ideas.

Sub Track

• Special Sessions

Individual Presentations

• The Role of Origins and Essence in Heritage Branding - Nathanael S. Martin, University of Cincinnati, USA; T. Andrew Poehlman, Clemson University, USA; Noah VanBergen, University of Cincinnati, USA

• How Solitude Helps Essence Retention and Increases Demand For a Creator's Product - Suhas Vijayakumar, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China; Wooyun Yang, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China; Rashmi Adaval, University of Cincinnati, USA

• When Heritage Branding Limits Innovation - Rosanna Smith, University of Georgia, USA; Minju Han, Yale University, USA; George Newman, Yale University, USA; Ravi Dhar, Yale University, USA

• Preserving Essence: The Mere Packaging Effect - Tim Philipp Doering, University of Michigan, USA; Katherine Burson, University of Michigan, USA; Andrew D Gershoff, University of Texas at Austin, USA

Session Chairs

• Rashmi Adaval, University of Cincinnati, USA

• Ravi Dhar, Yale University, USA