When is a new thing a good thing? Technological change, product form design, and perceptions of value

Judgments of value are based on an appreciation of the relations among an object’s features (Mandler 1982). They are complex assessments of fit—namely, the fit between the configuration of a product’s features and the configuration of features specified by the schemas used for its interpretation (Mandler 1982).1 Arguably, individual variations in the use of available schemas can generate differences in individual perceptions of value, but in the aggregate the perceived value of a product depends on its fit with collectively held schemas such as product categories. It is important to note that the assessment of fit, and the perception of value arising from it, is based on comparing the entire configuration of product features with the configuration of features specified by the schemas. This view of perceptions of value departs from extant models in strategy and marketing that treat customer perceptions of value as based on feature-by-feature product comparisons (Adner 2002; Engel and Blackwell 1982; Griffith 1999). In contrast, this view emphasizes that a product innovation has to fit with expectations and to make sense as a whole. A product innovation by definition exhibits some degree of misfit with existing schemas, because it modifies one or more core or peripheral product features (Griffith 1999). The degree of misfit, or incongruity, between the new product and existing schemas can vary in levels from very low (nearly total familiarity) to severe (total disorientation and discord). Different levels of incongruity have different cognitive and emotiona