Consumers’ responses to product design: Using a Semantic Priming Task to assess automatic understanding of product positioning

Abstract : Lack of understanding of new products’ positioning is one of the reasons proposed for their failure. Through a process of semantic transformation, product design can communicate a new product’s positioning to consumers. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of implicit cognition and the results of an empirical study, this article demonstrates that the Semantic Priming Task is a valuable tool to evaluate perceived product positioning conveyed by product design and to help practitioners in their decision-making with regard to product design.