How does face influence the purchase of imitative new products? Moderating roles of product design characteristics

Abstract

Face plays a profound role in consumption, but the question of how it impacts the purchase of imitative new products remains unanswered in the current literature. Imitative new products, which are legitimate innovations bearing similarities to existing products, are prevalent in many markets. This study investigates how two dimensions of face consciousness-the desire to gain face and the fear of losing face-influence consumers' purchase intentions regarding imitative new products by considering three product design characteristics (new product imitation locus, new product imitation scope, and product hedonism) as boundary conditions. We find through experiments carried out with adult Chinese consumers that the desire to gain face strengthens, but the fear of losing face weakens purchase intention. Moreover, the positive effects of the desire to gain face are weakened by imitation locus (form vs. function imitation) but enhanced by imitation scope (either form or function imitation vs. both form and function imitation); whereas the negative effects of the fear of losing face are strengthened by imitation locus but weakened by imitation scope. Product hedonism enhances the positive effects of the desire to gain face and augments the negative effects of the fear of losing face. This study thus contributes to the face literature by differentiating the roles of two dimensions of face consciousness in affecting consumption of imitative new products. In addition, this study contributes two important constructs-new product imitation locus and new product imitation scope-to the literature on imitative new products. K E Y W O R D S imitative new products, new product imitation locus, new product imitation scope, product hedonism, purchase intent, the desire to gain face, the fear of losing face 1 | INTRODUCTION Consumers are introduced to thousands of innovations each year, among which are imitative new products. Imitative new products share similarities with earlier market offerings but have unique and often improved features (Lee & Zhou, 2012; Levitt, 1966; Schnaars, 1994). Whether it is Microsoft's laptops with interfaces akin to Apple's, or Haier's air conditioners that are as quiet as Panasonic's, imitative new products command the attention and pocketbooks of buyers. According to one study, they are so well received that they capture 98% of the market value of the original ideas (Shenkar, 2010). Unlike radical new products, imitative new products add only incremental technological improvements and/or novelty to customer value; they also differ from incremental new products in that their innovative ideas come from external sources, especially from leading competitive products. Importantly, imitative new products are neither replicas nor duplications, also known as counterfeits, of already existing items, nor do they rely on piracy for their design; rather,

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