Atypical package design and product category prestige
研究发现，非典型包装设计的效果取决于产品类别的声望：在声望高的类别中，消费者更可能从非典型包装推断出高性能并选择该产品，且功能性是驱动偏好的关键维度。
Abstract Innovation in the design of products has become an important competitive tool of success in the market for many firms (see the virtual issue on Design Innovation in the Journal of Product Innovation Management [2020]). A few firms have had success in the market by adopting innovative designs. But not all innovative designs give success to firms. This research focuses on package design as an important marketing tool of innovation, influencing consumer responses to products. When designing packaging, firms typically follow category‐based visual codes, but they can adopt an innovative design that deviates from the codes, producing atypical package designs. This research shows that the effectiveness of atypical package design depends on product category prestige. Consumers respond to signals about product quality, such as package design, when they believe the signals are credible. When a product category is prestigious, consumers perceive package design as a diagnostic signal. Consumers are more likely to infer high product performance from an atypical package design and choose that product. We compare three dimensions of product design (aesthetics, functionality, and symbolism) to reveal that functionality is the reason why consumers prefer an atypical package design in a prestigious category. A series of studies show that the preference for atypical package design becomes stronger when consumers are choosing products in a prestigious category than in a standard category. The preference for atypical package design is attenuated when other information related to performance is provided, even when the aesthetics and symbolism of atypical package design do not change.