Unexpected product encounters trigger stronger emotional connections than anticipated ones.

The effect is apparently driven by our tendency to seek meaning in random, serendipitous events.

Marketers have leveraged surprise contexts to build deeper consumer-brand attachments.

As Forest Gump's Mom used to say, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get". She's right, of course: Life can be random and unpredictable.

Sometimes, these random events are easily dismissible as mere coincidences. But other times, it feels meant to be. Now, the event doesn't seem so random at all. Instead, the event assumes a greater significance.

It turns out that something like this may play out in the consumer world. When we come across a product unexpectedly, do we enjoy it more than if we expected to see it? Does it seem "meant to be"? That is, do serendipitous experiences with products enhance our attitudes towards them?

Across six studies, researchers Aekyoung Kim and Donnel Briley of The University of Sydney examined the consumer psychology of happenstance.

Evaluating Happenstance and Product Evaluation

In study one, 100 participants were approached in the real world and presented with a specific product: a postcard. After examining the card, the researchers gave them the choice of how many they would like to take home. Here, the crucial manipulation was whether the consumers expected to see this product or not. To this end, half the participants were approached outside a post office (high expectancy), while the other half were stopped outside a cafeteria (low expectancy).

Consistent with the researchers' hypothesis, participants took home........

© Psychology Today