Meaningless Differentiation
Standing apart on an attribute that is irrelevant on inspection. Gregory Carpenter, Rashi Glazer and Kent Nakamoto argued that buyers may infer such an attribute is relevant under certain conditions, with support from experiments in three product categories (Journal of Marketing Research, 1994). Used to argue that buyers read meaning into a chosen difference, so it should be one a business can stand behind.
What it is
Standing apart on an attribute that is irrelevant on inspection. Gregory Carpenter, Rashi Glazer and Kent Nakamoto argued that buyers may infer such an attribute is relevant under certain conditions, with support from experiments in three product categories (Journal of Marketing Research, 1994).
It sits close to Brand Strategy and Perceived Differentiation in the wider body of research, and is best taken as one idea among several rather than a stand-alone rule.
In effect
Used to argue that buyers read meaning into a chosen difference, so it should be one a business can stand behind.
What it does not say
The finding comes from the studies named on this page and describes a pattern in those samples. It does not show that the pattern holds for every person, product or market, and it does not tell a brand what to do on its own. It is one input to a decision, to be weighed with other evidence.
Sources
- Carpenter and colleagues, Journal of Marketing Research 31(3), 1994. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224379403100302
- Kent and Allen, Journal of Marketing 58(3), 1994. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299405800307