“So that's what that is”: Examining the impact of analogy on consumers' knowledge development for really new products

The ever‐accelerating pace of technological change has heralded an increasing number of new product introductions involving products that defy classification within existing categories. With the advent of these so‐called “really new products,” new questions about the influence of prior knowledge on consumer learning emerge. Chief among these is whether and to what extent prior knowledge plays a role in the comprehension of such products. Applying analogical learning theory to address this question, this investigation presents evidence indicating that analogy provides an effective link to the structural knowledge needed for consumers to learn about truly novel innovations. Reflecting this, subjects who engaged in analogical processing of new product information were more focused in their processing than subjects who processed the same information in the absence of analogy. Moreover, there was evidence to suggest that analogical processing itself results in the generation of positive affect.