← Search

Journal of Consumer Research 2026

The Desire for Perfect Products

Aprajita Gautam1; Rajagopal Raghunathan2; Rebecca Walker Reczek3

1 Texas A&M University Assistant Professor at Mays Business School, , TX 77843 · 2 McCombs School of Business H.E. Hartfelder/The Southland Corporation Regents Chair for Effective Business Leadership, , UT Austin, Texas 78712 · 3 The Ohio State University Berry Chair of New Technologies and Professor of Marketing at the Fisher College of Business, , Columbus, OH 43210

open access

Abstract

Some consumers evaluate products against demanding, ever-rising ideals of perfection. We introduce the desire for perfect products (DPP), a novel consumer trait capturing the extent to which consumers desire flawless products. Drawing on four qualitative studies, we identify three characteristics that distinguish high (vs. low) DPP consumers: (1) richer and more demanding ideal points, (2) greater susceptibility to upwardly revising those ideals when exposed to superior products, and (3) heightened sensitivity to even minor negative deviations from the ideal. Across scale-development studies reported in the web appendix, we develop an eight-item measure of DPP, establish its discriminant validity, and validate these characteristics. Across eight experiments, we show that DPP systematically shapes consumer behavior across acquisition and disposal. High-DPP consumers employ more numerous and stringent search filters, exhibit stronger preferences for newer products even when objective quality is unchanged, and are less willing to retain, repair, or donate flawed but usable products. Finally, we identify a managerially relevant intervention: reframing flaws as a source of uniqueness attenuates high-DPP consumers’ negative reactions to imperfect products.

DOI
10.1093/jcr/ucag034
Language
en
Sources
crossref openalex

Cite