Abstract
Prior research has investigated a number of drivers of consumers’ perceived product attractiveness, such as a product’s shape and color. The context, in which a product is presented, has so far been largely neglected in examining consumers’ aesthetic appraisal of products. Drawing on social cognition theory, this research investigates how the attractiveness of the visual context (e.g., websites, advertisements) influences consumers’ perceptions of product attractiveness and product quality for familiar versus unfamiliar products. Results of two experimental studies show that consumers perceive unfamiliar products as more attractive and, consequently, of higher quality when products are placed in an attractive context than when they are placed in an unattractive context. No differences in consumers’ perceived product attractiveness and perceived product quality exist for familiar products. The findings extend our theoretical knowledge of product aesthetics and provide managers with insights into the effective communication of their offerings’ attractiveness.
Highlights
Just as consumers ascribe personality traits, for example social skills and competence, to other people based on their physical attractiveness (Dion et al 1972; Goldman and Lewis 1977), consumers make inferences about product attributes based on a product’s visual appeal (Bloch 1995; Creusen and Schoormans 2005)
Study 1 demonstrates that the perceptions of product attractiveness of consumers who are unfamiliar with a product are greatly affected by the visual appeal of the context in which the product is presented
This increase in perceptions of product attractiveness leads to an increase in perceptions of product quality
Summary
Just as consumers ascribe personality traits, for example social skills and competence, to other people based on their physical attractiveness (Dion et al 1972; Goldman and Lewis 1977), consumers make inferences about product attributes based on a product’s visual appeal (Bloch 1995; Creusen and Schoormans 2005). Mark Lett (2017) 28:241–253 knowledge on the design factors that make products more or less attractive (Blijlevens et al 2011; Veryzer and Hutchinson 1998), it has neglected to examine the influence of the context, in which a product is presented, on consumers’ aesthetic appraisal of products. This is surprising considering the fact that products are always perceived in some kind of context, be it a website, an advertisement, a store, or consumers’ homes. We validate and extend the results using print advertisements as contexts and, examine whether higher ratings of product attractiveness translate into higher purchase intentions
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