Stimulating consumers’ creativity through analogical thinking: How can transfer distance and transfer content be matched?

Abstract

How can customers generate better ideas for new products or new services through analogical thinking? This creativity method comprises two steps: identifying source domains and transferring information from source domains to the target domain. The effect of transfer distance has been extensively studied, but the interaction between transfer distance and transfer content has not yet been considered. In two experiments, we show that the attractiveness of the ideas generated depends not only on the match (or mismatch) between transfer distance and transfer content but also on customers’ expertise in the target domain.