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Attentional strategies in the form of focused and defocused attention can be used for generating new product ideas. Focused attention refers to limiting the mental scope, whereas defocused attention refers to a widening of the mental scope. In two empirical studies, we investigate the effect of focused and defocused attentional strategies on the novelty, usefulness, and symbolism of the resulting product ideas and consumer response to these ideas. Study 1 shows that defocused (vs. focused) attention leads to ideas that are more novel, which in turn increases the desirability of these ideas to consumers. Study 2 replicates the link between defocus and novelty. Also, it shows that focused (vs. defocused) attention increases the usefulness of ideas, while defocused (vs. focused) attention increases the symbolic qualities of the product idea. Further, all three dimensions—novelty, usefulness, and symbolism—mediate the relationship between (de)focused attention and the desirability of a new product idea.
Sääksjärvi et al. (Mon,) studied this question.