When Competitive Interference Can Be Beneficial

Abstract

Prior research has viewed competitive interference as undesirable due to its negative effects on brand-attribute recall. We propose that competitive interference is not inherently bad but may be beneficial under certain conditions. In the context of an established brand promoting a new attribute, we show that the new attribute information is interfered with by the brand's old attributes, causing lower retrieval. However, in the presence of competitive advertising, old attribute information is suppressed, and new attribute information is successfully retrieved.