The Effect of Risk on the Schema Incongruity Effect

Several studies offer evidence of a schema congruity effect whereby consumers evaluate a product that is moderately incongruous with the product category more favorably than one that is extremely incongruous. However, recent evidence suggests that this effect may only emerge when consumers perceive little risk in the product evaluation context. The present research explores an alternative view. Specifically, it is hypothesized that even when there is substantial risk, the schema congruity effect will be observed if the incongruity serves consumption goals that are made salient by the context. Two experiments test this hypothesis and reveal that, even when perceived risk is high, the schema congruity effect is evident if the incongruity with the product category can be resolved by considering salient consumption goals.