Advances in technology are designed to make life easier, right? So why does the remote control have 81 buttons? Why can’t consumers change the ring tone on their cell phones? And why do people have to watch an instructional DVD just to use their new coffeemakers?
These are the questions
Debora Thompson, assistant professor in the
McDonough School of Business, ponders as she attempts to help companies and consumers navigate through the ever-expanding array of buttons, bells and whistles featured on electronic devices.
Thompson is a leading expert in “feature fatigue,” or the process of becoming overwhelmed and annoyed by the proliferation of useless or unwanted features.
Working with scholars Roland Rust and Rebecca Hamilton of the University of Maryland, College Park, Thompson has amassed insight into consumer behavior that explains why people become so disenchanted once they get their gadgets home.
Consumers are attracted to products packed with features, but too many features can overwhelm people once they start using an item. The features that seemed so useful at the store have added new levels of complexity to the product. As a result, even the most basic tasks -- turning up the volume, changing ring tones, making coffee in an automatic pot -- have become mind-boggling endeavors. Overwhelmed consumers often grow dissatisfied with their purchases, and the result can affect a company’s bottom line, Thompson says.
“If your customers are consistently unhappy with your product,” she says, “your company will eventually lose its foothold in the market.”
Companies can do better if they can manage or minimize the effects of feature fatigue. Manufacturers, product designers and marketers should be careful to consider feature usability throughout the production process, she adds.
“Even if people want more features,” says Thompson, “companies need to find a balance between giving consumers what they think they want and ensuring those customers are satisfied in the long-term. This balance will have a significant effect on customer loyalty and the company’s future success.”
The marketing professor’s research and findings appeared in a 2006 article, “Defeating Feature Fatigue,” published in the
Harvard Business Review. She co-authored the piece with Rust and Hamilton.
Thompson’s research focuses on how marketers can bridge the perception gap for customers who crave more features, yet place a premium on the ease of use. She also poses this question to the students in her class.
Student Enrichment
Born into a family of academics in the southernmost part of Brazil, Thompson says she draws a great deal of inspiration from her father, a professor of veterinary medicine.
“He was always very passionate about research and teaching,” she says. “His dedication to his students was a great inspiration to me and an example I wanted to follow.”
When she stands before the students in her Principles of Marketing class, she’s able to involve them in her research. Pointing to the screen, Thompson shows the class a picture of a television remote control. The remote control’s frustrated owner has covered all of the superfluous buttons, leaving only the buttons that control power, channels and volume exposed. Her students erupt into laughter.
“Overwhelmed by all the buttons on the remote control, this user has chosen simply to ignore most of the features,” she explains to her students, helping them visualize her point. Perhaps the photo presents an extreme example of feature fatigue, but the example helps her engage the students in a discussion about the importance of marketing and consumer behavior.
Thompson joined the business school after receiving her Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Maryland. She also taught at the institution before coming to Georgetown in 2006. The professor is among a group of scholars who bring their academic, policy and research expertise to the business school.
“My colleagues are extremely supportive of my research, and I find my students to be very interested in the work that I am doing,” Thompson relates.
Applied Research
In her most recent research, Thompson has found that the best way to combat feature fatigue is to provide consumers with opportunities to test and use products before they make a purchase. By enhancing product knowledge, marketers improve the likelihood that customers will successfully use the product in the future.
She conducted her latest research with Hamilton by simulating shopping experiences with participants of the study. Her subjects were allowed to use products on their own and then compare the functionality once they had someone read the product directions to them.
The research suggests that in-store training and trials can help supplant preconceived ideas about the product with useful information and first-hand experience. Thompson has taken a similar approach in the classroom.
“Many of my students are not marketing majors, and initially, many of them think they don’t need to know marketing principles. Some don’t think they will use the principles in practice,” she says. “Throughout the semester, students realize that learning about persuasion, branding and consumer behavior can help them be successful, no matter what field they enter.”
Thompson’s approach seems to be working. “I originally thought marketing would be just about different advertising strategies,” says
Cary Piligian (B'10),who is majoring in finance and management. “Now that I have been in class for awhile, I have come to realize that it is much more.”
And it’s not just business students who are benefiting from Thompson’s approach.
“I have already started applying the thought process of purchasing any product in my day-to-day life,” said
Purti Kanodia, a graduate student in biotechnology. In fact, Kanodia is using some of what she’s learned from Thompson in another course -- entrepreneurial biotechnology.
For Thompson, teaching at Georgetown provides her the opportunity not only to impact students through lessons in marketing, consumer attitudes and consumer decision-making, but it allows her a place to share her research. “There’s a lot of energy here at Georgetown, and I am very happy to be a part of the school.”
