Post by Cambridge Judge Business School

What actually makes a product cool? New research from Cambridge Judge Business School has an answer, and it challenges the received wisdom of most product #marketing. Co-authored by Dr Eden Yin, Associate Professor of Marketing, the study finds that utility drives coolness more reliably than style, exclusivity, or social cachet. The research identifies two ways consumers interpret coolness. 📌 Personal coolness (PIC) is about excitement and admiration: how a product makes you feel. 📌 Social coolness (SIC) is about validation: whether others see it as desirable. Across all three markets studied, US, Germany, and China, PIC came out on top. 💬 "Demonstrating that functional innovation is cool flies against conventional wisdom that often frames cool products as style-driven rather than practical." says Eden. 📊 The study draws on four surveys across the US, UK, Germany and China, and is published in the Journal of International Marketing. The takeaway for marketers: build something genuinely useful, and coolness tends to follow. Read the full insight via the link in the comments. 👇 #ProductMarketing #ConsumerBehaviour #MarketingStrategy #BusinessResearch #CambridgeJudge