Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? The effect of changes in product features over time

Abstract

This article examines how feature additions and removals affect consumers' preferences and the attributions they make regarding why these changes occurred. In two experiments, using a range of hypothetical and real products, we find that consumers' preferences for current product formulations are influenced by prior formulations and that changes in consumer preference are more extreme for feature removals than for feature additions. We further find that consumers attribute feature additions to causes that are more external to the firm and more stable over time than those for feature removals. Consumers' product evaluations are more negative when the cause of a feature removal is attributed more internally to the firm. However, consumers' product evaluations are not significantly affected by their attributions for feature additions. Finally, the degree to which the changing feature is linked to a brands' equity moderates these findings.