A study in this month’s Journal of Consumer Research, suggests that consumers can become “locked” into a particular brand, product, service, etc which increases the likelihood of staying with that particular brand. "We find that consumers typically are not aware that this mechanism is a powerful determinant of the choices they make," write Kyle B. Murray (University of Western Ontario) and Gerald Häubl (University of Alberta).
According to the authors, the theory of cognitive lock-in is the phenomenon which was first described by Klemperer in 1987, and which describes that habit is a critical and often overlooked factor in the product and service choices consumers make.
The authors point out that "this is an important finding because it demonstrates the specific nature of the link between the development of habits of use and consumer loyalty. In fact, the results of the current research indicate that, although habits of use can create a substantial advantage for an incumbent where otherwise none exists, such an advantage appears to be limited to the achievement of a particular goal."
These researchers have demonstrated that "cognitive lock-in" can cause us to remain loyal to a product, even if objectively better alternatives exist.
Posted by rsk at June 7, 2007 03:34 PM