Schema Congruity
How well a product fits the schema of its category. Joan Meyers-Levy and Alice Tybout found in three experiments that products moderately incongruent with their category drew more favourable evaluations than congruent or extremely incongruent ones (Journal of Consumer Research, 1989). The Why We Project uses it in a brand strategy article to argue for a clear category with one or two departures.
What it is
How well a product fits the schema of its category. Joan Meyers-Levy and Alice Tybout found in three experiments that products moderately incongruent with their category drew more favourable evaluations than congruent or extremely incongruent ones (Journal of Consumer Research, 1989).
It sits close to Brand Strategy and Brand Image and Positioning in the wider body of research, and is best taken as one idea among several rather than a stand-alone rule.
In effect
The Why We Project uses it in a brand strategy article to argue for a clear category with one or two departures.
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
- Meyers-Levy and Tybout, Journal of Consumer Research 16(1), 1989. https://doi.org/10.1086/209192