Freeman Wu, Adriana Samper, Andrea C. Morales, G. Fitzsimons
{"title":"When do photos on products hurt or help consumption? How magical thinking shapes consumer reactions to photo‐integrated products","authors":"Freeman Wu, Adriana Samper, Andrea C. Morales, G. Fitzsimons","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.1415","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Consumers and companies frequently integrate products with lifelike photographs of people, animals, and other entities. However, consumer responses to such products are relatively unknown. Drawing on magical thinking and moral psychology, we propose that, due to a photograph's lifelike resemblance to its referent, consumers believe that photo‐integrated products embody the depicted entity's underlying essence. As such, in cases where consumption compromises the product's integrity (e.g., food, disposable goods), people are less likely to consume photo‐integrated products because doing so is perceived as destroying the depicted entity's essence, which elicits moral discomfort. In contrast, when the photographic image remains intact through consumption, as is the case with durable goods (e.g., magnets), people increase consumption of photo‐integrated products relative to products without photo integration, consistent with their popularity in the marketplace. We highlight two strategies to promote more positive outcomes for managers and consumers alike: (1) choose images of entities whose essence destruction is perceived as less immoral, and (2) increase the durability of the product so the depicted entity's essence is preserved through consumption.","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1415","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Consumers and companies frequently integrate products with lifelike photographs of people, animals, and other entities. However, consumer responses to such products are relatively unknown. Drawing on magical thinking and moral psychology, we propose that, due to a photograph's lifelike resemblance to its referent, consumers believe that photo‐integrated products embody the depicted entity's underlying essence. As such, in cases where consumption compromises the product's integrity (e.g., food, disposable goods), people are less likely to consume photo‐integrated products because doing so is perceived as destroying the depicted entity's essence, which elicits moral discomfort. In contrast, when the photographic image remains intact through consumption, as is the case with durable goods (e.g., magnets), people increase consumption of photo‐integrated products relative to products without photo integration, consistent with their popularity in the marketplace. We highlight two strategies to promote more positive outcomes for managers and consumers alike: (1) choose images of entities whose essence destruction is perceived as less immoral, and (2) increase the durability of the product so the depicted entity's essence is preserved through consumption.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Consumer Psychology is devoted to psychological perspectives on the study of the consumer. It publishes articles that contribute both theoretically and empirically to an understanding of psychological processes underlying consumers thoughts, feelings, decisions, and behaviors. Areas of emphasis include, but are not limited to, consumer judgment and decision processes, attitude formation and change, reactions to persuasive communications, affective experiences, consumer information processing, consumer-brand relationships, affective, cognitive, and motivational determinants of consumer behavior, family and group decision processes, and cultural and individual differences in consumer behavior.