Insight versus effort. Communicating the creative process leading to new products

Studies of the creative process identify two relevant sources of new ideas and products: Insight, a sudden, dreamlike, illuminating experience; and effort, deliberate, structured, hard work. With the aim of investigating the communication of the creative process, this research proposes that consumers hold associations between insight and arts, and between effort and sciences. These lay theories induce differential evaluations of new products: consumers evaluate more favorably artistic and scientific products presented as the outcome of insight or effort, respectively. The strength of the proposed effects, however, depends on the level of consumer expertise in the relevant product domain. We maintain that, as audience expertise increases, lay theories become less relevant and the effects of creative process narratives are attenuated. Five studies support the proposed conceptual framework.