You are what you wear: Brand personality influences on consumer impression formation

The present study examines the role of brands in the process of impression formation. The article examines the hypothesis that brand personality traits may carry over and affect perceptions of the personality of the brand's owner. Based on the continuum model of impression formation the findings support the expectation that the impact of brand personality is stronger when the situational context embedding brand and owner is consistent with the key association that the brand evokes. Moreover, the amount of attention the perceiver can devote to the judgment task moderates this process, such that the interaction effect between brand personality and situational consistency is more pronounced when consumers are free to use as much time to the impression formation task as deemed necessary. Conversely, when under time pressure, consumers tend to resort only to brand personality as a basis for forming an impression

Brand visualization: Effects of "product shape- typeface design" congruence on brand perceptions and price expectations

This research addresses effects of congruence of symbolic meanings connoted through product shape and typeface design on brand perceptions and price expectations. Based on processing fluency accounts, it is predicted that shape-typeface congruence, as opposed to shape-typeface incongruence, positively affects perceptions of brand credibility, brand aesthetics, and product value, the latter reflected in higher price expectations. These predictions were tested in two studies in which shape and typeface of a fictitious brand of bottled waters were manipulated. Findings from both studies were in line with our predictions. Moreover, study 2 indicates that perceived brand aesthetics mediates the effect of shape-typeface congruence on price expectations

Symbolic meaning integration in design and its influence on product and brand evaluation

Previous research and theorizing in product design and consumer psychology testifies to the importance of congruence among symbolic meanings connoted through elements in visual communications such as advertisements, product appearance, and product packaging. However, understanding of the processes whereby meaning congruence impacts consumer response is limited. In this paper, we propose a framework for understanding congruence effects in design based on recent studies addressing processing fluency. Based on these findings, the authors propose that incongruence thwarts impression formation of product and brand by inducing ambiguity, thereby negatively affecting attitude formation. However, research indicates that congruence effects may vary across consumers. Hence, in the experimental study presented, effects of ‘advertising slogan-product shape’ (in)congruence were studied as a function of consumers’ tolerance for information ambiguity. Results from this study indicate that incongruencies are particularity distressing for consumers with a low tolerance for ambiguity in everyday life. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

The role of warmth in the experience of hospitality:An exploratory study

To create positive customer experiences, the service industry is increasingly paying attention to hospitality. However, service organisations are in need of tools to improve the experience of hospitality of their customers. What service attributes result in an experience of hospitality? Research on hospitality has thus far focussed on service staff behaviour (Ariffin & Maghzi, 2012; Blain & Lashley, 2014; Tasci & Semrad, 2016). However, there is a lack of knowledge on the role of environmental attributes in the experience of hospitality. Besides Brotherton (2005), who showed that modern, clean, comfortable and bright are aspects people associate with hospitality, little is known about how the perception of attributes of the physical service environment contribute to our experience of hospitality. Research has shown that the experience of hospitality in service environments is represented by three factors: inviting, care and comfort (Pijls, Groen, Galetzka & Pruyn, 2017). These factors are expected to be triggered by mental concepts grounded in bodily sensations. According to embodied cognition theory, attributes we perceive with our senses result in bodily sensation, such as warmth, weight or distance, which in turn affect our mental state. Embodied cognition is the idea that emotions and thoughts not only originate in the brain, but that we also think and feel with our body (Lobel, 2014). We expect that embodied cognition is one of the mechanisms underlying the experience of hospitality, linking the experience of hospitality to the impact of the physical environment. As far as we know the theory of embodied cognition has not yet been studied in the context of hospitality. Mental warmth is one of the abstract metaphors grounded in a concrete experience, in this case in the sensation of physical warmth (Williams & Bargh, 2008; Lakoff and Johnson, 1999). This experiment explores the effect of the perceived physical warmth on the experience of mental warmth among customers of a theatre by examining the effect of cold versus warm furniture material and by examining the effect of cold versus hot drinks. Based on the studies performed by Williams and Bargh (2008) and IJzerman & Semin (2009) on the effect of holding cold versus hot drinks, it is expected that: H1 Touching and drinking a hot drink will lead to the experience of hospitality H2 Touching and drinking a hot drink will lead to the experience of physical warmth, and subsequently mental warmth, which will result an increased experience of hospitality, compared to touching and drinking a cold drink. H3 Sitting on furniture made of warm material will lead to the experience of hospitality H4 Sitting on furniture made of warm material will lead to the experience of physical warmth, and subsequently mental warmth, which will result an increased experience of hospitality, compared to touching and drinking a cold drink. The experience of hospitality will be measured in a theatre foyer. A 3 (warm versus neutral versus cold furniture material) x 2 (warm versus cold drink) between-subjects factorial design will be employed. Visitors to the theatre will be asked to fill in the survey, while holding and drinking either a warm or a cold drink, and while sitting either on warm, neutral or cold furniture. The experience of hospitality will be measured with the 13-item Experience of Hospitality Scale. Mental warmth will be measured by 5 questions, such as ‘the foyer has an intimate atmosphere’, ‘I’m warmly treated in this theatre’, ‘this theatre is a warm organisation’. Results are forthcoming