Why do we buy gadgets with more features than we can possibly use?

To show others how awesome we are!

Previous research has shown that consumers frequently chooseÂ products with too many features that they later find difficult to use. In thisÂ research, the authors show that this seemingly suboptimal behavior mayÂ actually confer benefits when factoring in the social context ofÂ consumption. The results demonstrate that choosing products with moreÂ capabilities (i.e., feature-rich products) provides social utility beyondÂ inferences of wealth, signaling consumersâ technological skills andÂ openness to new experiences and that consumersâ beliefs about theÂ social utility of feature-rich products are predictive of their choices ofÂ such products. Furthermore, the authors examine when impressionÂ management concerns increase consumersâ likelihood of choosingÂ feature-rich products. They find that public choices in which participantsÂ display their preferences to others encourage feature-seeking behaviorÂ but that the anticipation of having to use a product in front of othersÂ provides an incentive to avoid additional features.