Beyond Aesthetics: Seeing Form and Believing in Function

Research on the effect of design has tended to emphasize the aesthetic dimension of product form and its global, spontaneous, and even unconscious influence on overall product evaluation. But apart from the aesthetic aspect of design, product form has additional effects on consumer perception

The red derogation effect

This research demonstrates that the red-attractiveness effect of women viewing men is moderated by mate retention goals, and that the effect is mediated by perceived threat. Additionally, we show that the red-threat link is moderated by self-control strength such that the effect dissipates when self-control reources have been depleted

The impact of candidate appearance and advertising strategies on election outcomes

Spending on political advertising has grown dramatically in recent years, and political campaigns have increasingly adopted the language and techniques of marketing. As such political marketing efforts proliferate, the factors that drive electoral success warrant greater attention and investigation. The authors employ a combination of laboratory studies and analysis of actual election results to reveal influences of candidate appearance and spending strategies in campaigns. They analyze how personality trait inferences based on candidate appearance interact with political party brand image, advertising spending, and negative advertising. The results indicate that appearance-based inferences about candidates influence election outcomes, but their impact is driven partially by trait associations at the party brand level. This interaction between appearance and party alters the effects of advertising spending, particularly the effects of negative advertising. The findings have implications for the marketing of political candidates in terms of their party's brand image. It is widely accepted that candidate appearance influences election outcomes. This view is supported by anecdotal evidence (Stanton 2000) and academic study (e.g., The issues of candidate appearance, campaign spending, and negative advertising have received individual attention in the psychology and political science literatures (e.g., This work builds on previous research showing that candidates with an appearance conveying a high level of overall competence enjoy greater electoral success We organize the remainder of this article as follows: We begin with a review of relevant literature in marketing, psychology, and political science and present our hypotheses. We then discuss a series of experiments demonstrating the interaction between trait inferences and party affiliation. Then, we use findings from those studies to develop specifications to examine outcomes for a subset of congressional elections. We conclude with a discussion of the implications and limitations of our work, along with suggestions for further research. BACKGROUN

Taste Perception: More than Meets the Tongue

Perceptual discrimination is fundamental to rational choice in many product categories yet rarely examined in consumer research. The present research investigates discrimination as it pertains to consumers' ability to identify differences-or the lack thereof-among gustatory stimuli. Three experiments reveal systematic bias resulting from the presence of common visual and verbal product cues. Particularly noteworthy is the finding that the amount of bias induced by a subtle, nonevaluative cue can far exceed the bias induced by overt and well-established evaluative cues. In addition, the effects these cues have on perceptual discrimination diverge from the effects they have on preference. (c) 2007 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Knowing too much: expertise induced false recall effects in product comparison

A long history of research has shown that experts’ well-developed knowledge structures provide numerous advantages in memory-based decisions and tasks. More recently, research has shown that in certain situations experts’ more detailed knowledge can hinder memory performance by resulting in the creation of false memories. The current research adds to this growing literature by showing how experts can fall prey to a different type of false memory when making product comparisons. Four studies demonstrate that in a product comparison context, in their attempt to make options more comparable, experts inadvertently “fill in the gap” by aligning nonalignable features in memory. This results in the false recall of aligned features that did not appear in the original descriptions. Experts’ higher sense of accountability for their judgments, coupled with their highly developed schemata, is identified as the mechanism underlying the effect

The Influence of Product Aesthetics on Consumer Inference-Making

Product aesthetics can enhance consumer welfare in numerous ways. Aside from simply making products more pleasurable, product aesthetics may also influence the inferences consumers make about functional attributes. In some instances, an attractive design may accurately provide information regarding utility. In other instances, however, an attractive design may be a misleading signal that prompts consumers to assume more utility than justified. Across five studies, the present research examines whether aesthetics can exert an unwarranted influence on the estimation of missing attribute information in favor of an aesthetically superior product. We show that aesthetics can bias consumers’ inferences about functionality, sometimes overriding other more diagnostic information. Boundaries to this effect are also identified that may serve to correct the bias and preserve consumer welfare

The Persuasive Role of Incidental Similarity on Attitudes and Purchase Intentions in a Sales Context

This study examines the effects of incidental similarity shared between a salesperson and a potential customer. We show that an incidental similarity, such as a shared birthday or birthplace, can result in a more favorable attitude and a higher intention to purchase. We argue and find that the need for connectedness underlies its persuasive effects in an interpersonal context. In addition, we show that the valence of the salesperson's behavior and the possibility of an extended service relationship moderate the process. When the need for connectedness is mitigated, the positive effects of incidental similarity can be lost or even reversed. (c) 2009 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

sj-docx-1-mrj-10.1177_00222437221130721 - Supplemental material for How Consumers Respond to Embarrassing Service Encounters: A Dehumanization Perspective

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-mrj-10.1177_00222437221130721 for How Consumers Respond to Embarrassing Service Encounters: A Dehumanization Perspective by Yixia Sun, Xuehua Wang, JoAndrea Hoegg and Darren W. Dahl in Journal of Marketing Research</p