LAUSR

Purpose A product communicates to consumers through its form and function, which may generate an effective response. Little is known, however, about the impact of the interaction of form and functional newness on consumers’ adoption preference. Drawing on uniqueness theory, this research proposes that the relative importance of form and functional newness to adoption preference could vary depending on the degree of consumers’ need for uniqueness (CNFU). Design/methodology/approach To mimic real consumption behavior as much as possible in our studies, we first choose a product that our respondents are familiar with and use on a daily basis. Secondly, we conduct a series of conjoint analysis in which respondents are presented with a set of options simultaneously and are asked to make a choice of adoption among those options. We conduct three conjoint studies using students and adult consumers. Findings Evidence from three conjoint studies using both student and adult consumer samples confirms the moderating...