Cognitive and emotional resistance to innovations: concept and measurement
Journal of Product & Brand Management
ISSN: 1061-0421
Article publication date: 26 July 2019
Issue publication date: 23 June 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conceptualize two dimensions of active innovation resistance (AIR): cognitive active resistance and emotional active resistance. A scale to measure this construct is proposed and tested.
Design/methodology/approach
Three studies were conducted, with sample sizes of 195, 190 and 186, to test the discriminant, convergent, nomological and criterion validity of the proposed AIRc+e scale and to analyze its explanatory and predictive power. Data were gathered using the online platform of a US-based research company.
Findings
The authors provide evidence that AIR is a two-dimension construct comprising a cognitive and an emotional dimension. AIR was modeled as a third-order construct, comprising two second-order constructs, cognitive active resistance and emotional active resistance. The impact of adding an emotion dimension to active resistance was therefore assessed, and the results indicated that the explanatory and predictive power of the AIR measure improved as expected.
Practical implications
Consumers are most likely to resist innovations launched onto the marketplace, either prior to or after evaluating them. A better understanding of the reasons behind their resistance to innovation, as well as of its mechanisms, is of great importance in decreasing an innovation’s chances of failure.
Originality/value
This study proposes that incorporating emotion into the assessment of AIR will result in a deeper understanding of adoption and rejection behavior, expanding the current knowledge of consumer behavior in innovation-related, new product adoption and decisions.
Keywords
Citation
Castro, C.A.B., Zambaldi, F. and Ponchio, M.C. (2020), "Cognitive and emotional resistance to innovations: concept and measurement", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 441-455. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2018-2092
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited