The Relationship between Automobile Add-on Features and Consumer Product Evaluation

In the present study the relationship between alignable/nonalignable add-ons and consumer evaluation of the base product has been investigated. Also the effect of knowledge as a moderating variable on this relationship was studied. The statistical population of this study consists of Irankhodro customers located in Tehran and sampling was done using clustering sampling with multi-staged approach. Data was collected through 378 questionnaire and for data analysis Wilcoxon, Spearman correlation, Kolmorov-Smirnov and Friedman tests were performed. The results showed that alignable add-ons keep the inference level at the level of base product’s usual features and result in negative evaluation of the base product. In contrast non-alignable add-ons cause a general inference, so consumer’s attitude toward the add-on determines his/her attitude toward the base product. However, when consumer’s knowledge of the base product is high, he/she doesn’t utilize add-ons for evaluation. The present study was limited to one industry & product. Also, just one alignable/nonalignable add-on was provided for consumer evaluation. The effect of marketing mix and competitive factors on the relationship between add-ons and consumer evaluation weren’t investigated. Managers can provide free alignable add-ons and favorable nonalignable add-ons for consumers. Also, in providing add-ons, the consumers who have high knowledge of the base product should be avoided.