文档介绍：Tripat Gill
Convergent Products: What
Functionalities Add More Value to the
Base?
Convergence in the electronics sector has enabled the addition of disparate new functionalities to existing base
products (., adding mobile television to a cell phone or access to a personal digital assistant). This
research investigates the role of two factors—(1) the goal congruence between the added functionality and the
base and (2) the nature of the base product (utilitarian versus hedonic)—on the evaluation of such convergent
products (CPs). The author proposes that the evaluation of CPs with a utilitarian versus hedonic base is subject to
an asymmetric additivity effect. Specifically, whereas CPs with a utilitarian base gain more from adding an
incongruent, hedonic functionality than a congruent, utilitarian one, CPs with a hedonic base gain less from an
incongruent, utilitarian addition than a congruent, hedonic one. This asymmetry is because hedonic additions
enhance the pleasure of using a utilitarian base, whereas utilitarian additions may dilute the existing hedonic image
of a hedonic base. The moderating role of prior ownership of the base of a CP is also explored. The author proposes
that the effects of goal congruence are stronger for owners than for nonowners, but only for CPs with a hedonic
base, not for those with a utilitarian base. The author verifies the proposed effects in an experimental study
conducted with a large-scale, representative sample of the target market population. Further research on other
(moderating) factors affecting the evaluation of CPs is also suggested.
Keywords: convergence, new products, functionalities, consumption goals, utilitarian, hedonic
onvergence is a dominant paradigm in the contem- of PDAs may wonder whether it is a good idea to add
porary high-technology electronics sector—specifi- mobile television to a PDA, which would mean adding a
Ccally, the intersection puters, communica- new functionality that i