Decoding the effects of a product’s cast shadow in brand advertising

Purpose: This research aims to investigate the impact of incorporating product shadows in brand advertising on consumer brand evaluations. Design/methodology/approach: Three studies were designed using experimental approach to demonstrate how the presence of a product’s cast shadow in a brand’s promotional frame implicitly influences brand evaluations differently for experiential vs functional brands. Findings: The presence of a product’s cast shadow in a visual frame implicitly complements abstract processing of an experiential brand but hurts a functional brand’s concrete gestalt by acting as visual noise, thereby improving an experiential brand’s overall evaluation in comparison to a functional brand. Research limitations/implications: Current findings highlight the importance of using appropriate visual elements (especially subtle elements such as product shadows) to ensure communication consistency between the firm-formulated brand concept and the consumer-perceived brand image. Practical implications: Experiential (vs functional) brand images are harder to build and maintain. Current findings show that a mere presence of the product’s shadow in an experiential (vs functional) brand’s ad frame reinforces the experiential brand image by acting as a consistent element in the experiential brand’s ad frame that enhances the overall ease of product evaluation. Hence, product shadows should be used as strategic tools by brand managers, rather than a random ad-execution choice. Originality/value: This research makes an initial attempt to explore the relationship between product shadows and consumer brand perceptions. It provides a deeper understanding of the underlying process (based on associative networks memory model, construal level theory and processing fluency model) that influence specific brand perceptions (experiential vs functional) when a product is showcased with its shadow in a promotional frame

Active White Space (AWS) in Logo Designs: Effects on Logo Evaluations and Brand Communication

In this article, we explore Active White Space (AWS)—the space between individual logo design elements—as a stylistic modification that revamps a logo design yet preserves its extant associations. Across three studies, we find AWS to be an effective stylistic logo tool. In Study 1, we find that adding AWS to pictorial logos improves their visual evaluation. In Study 2, we find this positive evaluation to spillover to verbal brand aspects such that logo designs with AWS are perceived to communicate brand descriptions more clearly. In Study 3, we find that logo designs with AWS benefit sophisticated brand personalities the most, followed by sincere, exciting, and competent brand personalities, with no effect on rugged brand personalities

Product Shadows and Ad Evaluations

Prior research shows that stylistic ad manipulations (i.e., the style or manner in which product visuals are presented in an ad) impact consumer perceptions (Yang, Zhang and Peracchio 2010). This dissertation explores the impact of presence (versus absence) of a product’s shadow in the ad frame, as a visual stylistic manipulation influencing consumer ad perceptions. While many stylistic manipulations have been explored in the past, product shadows in how they impact ad perceptions have not been explored. Drawing on a holistic understanding on object shadows from the visual art, cognition and psychophysics literature streams, this dissertation investigates how product shadows impact ad perceptions. It applies theoretical tenants of Gestalt psychology, Construal Level Theory (CLT), and information paradigms including Signal Detection Theory (SDT) in deriving seven specific hypotheses. It also tests for moderating factors (such as individual consumer aesthetics, gestalt versus component visual processing modes, and product luxury positioning) that may alter consumer ad evaluations and ad effectiveness perceptions based on this stylistic manipulation of product shadow. Findings from this dissertation reveal that the presence (vs. absence) of a product’s shadow in an ad frame enhances the product’s visual form. This visual appraisal of the product in the ad frame further improves the ad’s overall evaluations. The effects of a product shadow on ad attitudes is positively moderated by an individual’s aesthetic tendencies (specifically their response tendencies towards visual aesthetics), a gestalt-focused (vs. component-focused) visual processing mode, as well as a luxury based ad’s positioning. There is also some support for negative effects of product shadows in component-focused ad scenarios, where they act as visual impairments rather than enhancers of the product form and aesthetics. Theoretically, this dissertation extends prior research on stylistic manipulations of product images in visual ad frames, while building upon established ad communication paradigms, including AIDA and Hierarchical Processing Model, HPM (Peracchio and Meyers-Levy 2005; Yang, Zhang and Peracchio 2010). Managerially, findings from this dissertation have implications for print, online, in-store and thus, any form of visual advertising portraying a product form. It outlines specific contexts under which managers can systematically employ (or evade) product shadows to not only enhance ad evaluations, but also to optimize their ad message efficacies. Stylistic image manipulations comprise production elements (e.g., camera angles), and only affect the way in which the product is displayed, i.e., not the core product image itself (Peracchio and Meyers-Levy 2005; Yang, Zhang and Peracchio 2010). Hence, these can be employed as strategic tools towards ad effectiveness (Barry and Howard 1990). Marketers can not only specifically target and position promotions incorporating product shadows towards aesthetically-attuned consumers, but also save advertising costs by omitting them if their presence hinders the communication of the intended message in certain scenarios

Product Shadows and Ad Evaluations

Prior research shows that stylistic ad manipulations (i.e., the style or manner in which product visuals are presented in an ad) impact consumer perceptions (Yang, Zhang and Peracchio 2010). This dissertation explores the impact of presence (versus absence) of a product’s shadow in the ad frame, as a visual stylistic manipulation influencing consumer ad perceptions. While many stylistic manipulations have been explored in the past, product shadows in how they impact ad perceptions have not been explored. Drawing on a holistic understanding on object shadows from the visual art, cognition and psychophysics literature streams, this dissertation investigates how product shadows impact ad perceptions. It applies theoretical tenants of Gestalt psychology, Construal Level Theory (CLT), and information paradigms including Signal Detection Theory (SDT) in deriving seven specific hypotheses. It also tests for moderating factors (such as individual consumer aesthetics, gestalt versus component visual processing modes, and product luxury positioning) that may alter consumer ad evaluations and ad effectiveness perceptions based on this stylistic manipulation of product shadow. Findings from this dissertation reveal that the presence (vs. absence) of a product’s shadow in an ad frame enhances the product’s visual form. This visual appraisal of the product in the ad frame further improves the ad’s overall evaluations. The effects of a product shadow on ad attitudes is positively moderated by an individual’s aesthetic tendencies (specifically their response tendencies towards visual aesthetics), a gestalt-focused (vs. component-focused) visual processing mode, as well as a luxury based ad’s positioning. There is also some support for negative effects of product shadows in component-focused ad scenarios, where they act as visual impairments rather than enhancers of the product form and aesthetics. Theoretically, this dissertation extends prior research on stylistic manipulations of product images in visual ad frames, while building upon established ad communication paradigms, including AIDA and Hierarchical Processing Model, HPM (Peracchio and Meyers-Levy 2005; Yang, Zhang and Peracchio 2010). Managerially, findings from this dissertation have implications for print, online, in-store and thus, any form of visual advertising portraying a product form. It outlines specific contexts under which managers can systematically employ (or evade) product shadows to not only enhance ad evaluations, but also to optimize their ad message efficacies. Stylistic image manipulations comprise production elements (e.g., camera angles), and only affect the way in which the product is displayed, i.e., not the core product image itself (Peracchio and Meyers-Levy 2005; Yang, Zhang and Peracchio 2010). Hence, these can be employed as strategic tools towards ad effectiveness (Barry and Howard 1990). Marketers can not only specifically target and position promotions incorporating product shadows towards aesthetically-attuned consumers, but also save advertising costs by omitting them if their presence hinders the communication of the intended message in certain scenarios