Several studies have shown that pioneering brands are preferred to later entrants. The “pioneering advantage” is remarkably robust and has been observed across a wide variety of products and contexts. Two longitudinal experiments were conducted to investigate judgmental mechanisms that contribute to this advantage. In experiment 1, the amount of information presented was held constant across brands. Nevertheless, subjects learned more about the pioneer than about later entrants and consequently judgments of the pioneer were more extreme and were held with greater confidence. Furthermore, the pioneering advantage increased over time, especially when subjects were exposed repeatedly to the features of the pioneer. Experiment 2 demonstrated that order-of-entry effects on consumer memory and judgment are eliminated when information about a set of brands is presented simultaneously as opposed to sequentially. Furthermore, the results revealed that sequential information processing benefits the pioneer even when product information is processed incidentally. Implications of the results for understanding and managing order-of-entry effects are discussed.
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