Egocentric Processing: The Advantages of Person-Related Features in Consumers’ Product Decisions

Abstract This article explores the possibility that product features may resonate differently with different consumers based on how consumers classify the product in relation to their selves. Prior research has shown that relating products to a consumer’s self affects product memory, judgment, and choice. Here we identify a novel way in which the self contextualizes consumers’ product decisions: egocentric processing. We introduce a theoretical distinction between two types of product features based on relative applicability to people versus products: person-related (e.g., toughness) and product-related (e.g., durability). Seven experiments demonstrated that consumers use self-categorization cues, such as ownership or brand, to classify products in relation to the category of self. Consumers then use the category of self, to which person-related features neatly apply, to process information about in-self products. Person-related features thus gain three advantages in consumer decisions about in-self (vs. out-self) products: greater consideration, faster processing, and higher importance. We see these advantages especially when (1) similar advantages are present in self-judgment, (2) consumers are self-focused, and (3) the self-categorization cue is self-defining. Our findings both open up new ways for marketers to increase the appeal of products for specific consumer segments and demonstrate ways to identify and target these segments.