If I Understand Why a Product Looks Weird, Will I Buy It?

Abstract

Consumers are increasingly exposed to advertising aimed at producing positive reactions toward goods that do not meet aesthetic marketplace standards, such as oddly shaped produce. In this paper, the authors posit that one of the reasons why consumers reject these aesthetically unexpected goods is because they lack a certain causal explanation, which can be clearly communicated through advertising. In four studies, including a field study, consumers exhibited higher preference for aesthetically unexpected goods when advertisements featured low causal uncertainty (i.e., few causes), particularly in comparison with when no causal information was provided. This effect occurred regardless of cause type (human versus natural).