본 연구에서는 친숙도에 있어 차이가 나는 2개의 제품 범주(즉, 친숙도가 높은 제품 범주와 낮은 제품 범주)가 결합되어 형성된 융합제품이 친숙도가 높은 제품 범주 또는 친숙도가 낮은 제품 범주의 속성들로만 기술되어 소비자가 융합제품에 대해 단일 범주 추론을 형성할 때, 소비자의 목표―즉, 추론의 기반이 되는 제품 범주와 관련된(vs. 관련 없는) 목표―에 따른 융합제품에 대한 평가가 추론의 기반이 되는 제품 범주의 친숙도(높은 친숙도 vs. 낮은 친숙도)에 따라 어떻게 달라지는지를 살펴보았다. 또한, 동일한 융합제품이 주 범주(즉, 융합제품의 라벨로 제시되는 제품 범주)는 친숙도가 높은(또는 낮은) 제품 범주의 속성들로, 수식 범주는 친숙도가 낮은(또는 높은) 제품 범주의 속성들로 기술되었을 경우, 융합제품에 대한 추론(단일 범주 추론 vs. 다 범주 추론)이 어떻게 나타나는지, 그리고 이때 융합제품을 구성하는 제품 범주와 관련된 소비자의 목표(주 범주 관련 목표 vs. 수식 범주 관련 목표)는 융합제품 평가에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지를 살펴보았다. 두 차례의 실험 결과, 첫째, 친숙도에 있어 차이가 나는 2개의 제품 범주(즉, 친숙도가 높은 제품 범주와 낮은 제품 범주)가 결합되어 형성된 융합제품(예: 전자사전-PDA)이 친숙도가 높은 제품 범주(예: 전자사전) 또는 친숙도가 낮은 제품 범주(예: PDA)의 속성들로만 기술되었을 때, 융합제품 평가에 있어서 추론의 기반이 되는 제품 범주와 관련된 목표가 활성화되었을 경우 평가절상 효과는 유의하게 나타나지 않았다. 반면, 추론의 기반이 되는 제품 범주와 관련 없는 목표가 활성화되었을 경우 평가절하 효과는 융합제품을 구성하는 제품 범주의 친숙도에 따라 달리 나타나는 것으로 확인되었다. 즉, 융합제품 추론의 기반이 되는 제품 범주와 관련 없는 목표가 활성화되었을 때, 융합제품이 친숙도가 높은 제품범주의 속성들로만 기술되었을 경우에는 평가절하 효과가 나타나는 반면, 융합제품이 친숙도가 낮은 제품범주의 속성들로만 기술되었을 경우에는 평가절하 효과가 나타나지 않는 것으로 확인되었다. 둘째, 동일한 융합제품이 주 범주(즉, 융합제품의 라벨로 제시되는 제품 범주)는 친숙도가 높은 제품 범주의 속성들로, 수식 범주는 친숙도가 낮은 제품 범주의 속성들로 기술되었을 때는, 친숙도가 높은 주 범주에 기반한 단일범주 추론이 발생하였다. 반대로, 융합제품의 주 범주가 친숙도가 낮은 제품 범주의 속성들로, 수식 범주가 친숙도가 높은 제품 범주의 속성들로 기술되었을 경우에는 양 제품 범주에 기반한 다 범주 추론이 발생하는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 앞서 살펴본 동일한 융합제품에 대해 (1)친숙도가 높은 주 범주에 기반한 단일범주 추론이 형성되었을 경우, 추론의 기반이 되는 제품 범주와 관련된 목표가 활성화되었을 때 평가절상 효과는 유의하게 나타나지 않았고, 추론의 기반이 되는 제품 범주와 관련 없는 목표가 활성화되었을 때 평가절하 효과는 나타난 반면, (2)양 제품 범주에 기반한 다 범주 추론이 형성되었을 경우, 목표에 의한 평가절상 효과 및 평가절하 효과는 나타나지 않는 것으로 확인되었다. 마지막으로 본 연구결과가 제시하는 이론적·관리적 시사점을 제시하고, 연구의 한계와 미래의 연구 방향에 대해서도 논의하였다.
Hybrid products are formed by combining features and functionalities of two or more existing product categories. Thus, it is difficult or impossible to place them into preexisting categories (Gregan-Paxton, Hoeffler, and Zhao 2005). Hybrid products exhibit some of the following characteristics: First, a hybrid product is formed by combining two or more distinct product categories with identical or differing levels of familiarity (Gregan-Paxton et al. 2005). Second, a hybrid product is linked to the simultaneous attainment of several goals relevant to the key functionalities best met by the product categories comprising it (Kruglanski, Shah, Fishbach, Friedman, Chun, and Sleeth-Keppler 2002). According to prior studies, consumers can employ a single- or a multiple-category inference strategy to make inferences about hybrid products. A single-category inference can lead consumers to focus only on the subset of beliefs that are consistent with the selected category for the hybrid product and to ignore beliefs about features that are inconsistent with the selected category while making product evaluations (Gregan-Paxton et al. 2005; Rajagopal and Burnkrant 2009). Conversely, a multiple-category inference can lead a consumer to evaluate a hybrid product based on the multiple functionalities, where the functionalities reflect the categories upon which the consumer`s inference with regard to the hybrid product is based. Relatedly, for example, Gregan-Paxton et al. (2005) examined the nature of consumers` inferences when faced with a product that could belong to multiple categories (e.g., a PDA phone). Specifically, Gregan-Paxton et al. (2005) found that when an ambiguous product was described in terms of conflicting conceptual (i.e., product label) and perceptual category cues (i.e., product picture), a single category inference strategy was employed where inferences were based mainly on the perceptually cued category when the perceptually cued category was more familiar than the conceptually cued category. However, when the perceptually cued category was less than or equal to the conceptually cued category in familiarity, a multiple category inference strategy was employed and inferences were based on both the perceptually and conceptually cued categories. Moreover, previous research on goals has suggested that active goals guide consumer decision making, and recent research has highlighted their role in the value perception of choice alternative (see Markman and Brendl [2000] for an expanded discussion). Markman and Brendl`s study (2000) is grounded in goal systems theory (e.g., Kruglanski et al. 2002). The basic premise of this theory is that goals are motivational structures: they influence the way in which individuals evaluate the world around them. Within this framework, studies have shown that an active goal increases the value of any object that is instrumental for its satisfaction (Markman and Brendl 2000). That is, objects that meet an active desire are valued higher than those that do not: food, for example, is considered more valuable by people who are hungry than by people who are not. This outcome is called a valuation effect. In contrast, activating a focal need (e.g., to eat) makes objects unrelated to that need (e.g., shampoo) less valuable, and thus this outcome is referred to as a devaluation effect. Furthermore, according to the associative model of goals in the structure of goal systems, a change in the perceived instrumentality of a given means is caused by the strength of the association between the means and the goal, with stronger associations leading to higher perceived instrumentality (Kruglanski et al. 2002). For example, associating a means with additional goals dilutes the functional association between the means and the original goal, lowering the perceived instrumentality of the means and one`s actual preference for it when only the original goal is pursued (Zhang, Fishbach, and Kruglanski 2007). Building on these previous findings, therefore, this research examines the moderating role of product category familiarity (low vs. high) in generating inferences about and subsequently forming preferences for a hybrid product when only one of the goals that the hybrid product can satisfy has been activated. In the current research, we make four predictions. First, when a hybrid product formed from combining two product categories with differing levels of consumer familiarity is described only by a high-familiarity (or a low-familiarity) category, a single-category inference occurs in which inferences are based on the high-familiarity (or the low-familiarity) category. Thus, we predict that the valuation effect will be observed when there is an active goal relevant to the category on which inferences are largely based. In contrast, in the presence of an active goal irrelevant to the category on which inferences are mainly based, the devaluation effect will be found when the hybrid product is described only by a high-familiarity category, whereas the devaluation effect will not be significant when the same hybrid product is described only by a low-familiarity category. Second, when the head category of the same hybrid product is represented by a high-familiarity category and the modifier category is represented by a low-familarity category, a single-category inference will occur where inferences are largely based on the head category. On the contrary, when the modifier category of the same hybrid product is represented by a high-familiarity category and the head category is represented by a low-familarity category, a multiple-category inference will occur where inferences are based on both the head and modifier categories. Third, when the head category of the same hybrid product is represented by a high-familiarity category and the modifier category is represented by a low-familarity category, the valuation effect will be detected in the presence of an active goal relevant to the category on which inferences are largely based, whereas the devaluation effect will be found when there exists an active goal irrelevant to the category on which inferences are mainly based. Fourth, when the modifier category of the same hybrid product is described by a high-familiarity category and the head category is described by a low-familarity category, neither the valuation nor devaluation effects will be significant. These predictions are tested in two experiments. Finally, we discuss theoretical and practical implications of our findings and develop directions for future research.