Think outside the box: how creative-thinking marketing influences new product adoption

Purpose This study develops an emerging strategy for new product promotion, termed “creative-thinking marketing (CTM),” which aims to facilitate new product adoption. This study aims to examine how CTM influences new product adoption, along with its underlying mechanism and boundary conditions. Design/methodology/approach The authors empirically test the research questions across two lab experiments and two online experiments. Specifically, Studies 1 and 2 are 2 × 2 experiments conducted in the controlled-lab setting with 330 and 244 undergraduates, respectively. Studies 3a and 3b are 2 × 2 × 2 experiments conducted in the online setting with 408 and 424 adults, respectively. Findings Results are consistent across all studies. Surprisingly, divergent-thinking marketing makes consumers more likely to adopt really new products, while convergent-thinking marketing makes consumers more likely to adopt incrementally new products. Follow-up path analysis, with Study 2 data, reveals that such effects are driven by perceived idea fluency resulting from the fit between CTM and product newness. Studies 3a and 3b demonstrate that regulatory-focused cues can reverse the effects of CTM on new product adoption. Practical implications Insights are particularly interesting for practitioners seeking to an emerging marketing strategy for new product promotion as well as the customer segments. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to propose and verify the effectiveness of CTM on new product promotion.