A glance at the future. effects of anticipated disclosure of new product concepts

Many companies decide to publicly disclose their concept products long before the forecasted market launch in order to anticipate their visions about the future. We contend that exposure to these concept products influences the way consumers judge currently marketed products. Across a series of experimental studies we analyze the effects of exposure to concept products varying with respect to their degree of design futurism, to their forecasted release date, and to the advancement of their technical functionalities on consumer evaluation of existing products. The results show that while exposure to the advanced product functionalities of concept products may be detrimental for marketed products, such a negative effect can be reduced by a forward looking and futuristic design.