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Abstract
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.
When a product's design suggests a particular level of functional performance, it can alter consumer judgment, even in the presence of ostensibly more objective written information.
This finding does not only apply to a product's overall impression, but also to how consumers evaluate individual product features. For a target feature, the presence of pictures altered the relative functional performance ratings in favor of the presented designs, but for non-target features the presenceof the picture had no effect. Hence, product form can communicate functional performance independently of global attractiveness. These insights have important implications for design creation and communication as well as for consumers. They highlight yet again the importance of close cooperation between product development, marketing and design.

Preservice tips are becoming increasingly common in the marketplace (e.g., online food delivery, quick-service restaurants). While prior research has investigated how the practice of preservice tipping is perceived by customers, how preservice tipping impacts the perceptions and behaviors of employees remains unexplored. Does tipping early actually elicit better service? Through a series of four studies, our research compares the effectiveness of tips—a financial incentive, with compliments—a nonfinancial incentive. The results indicate that early tips and compliments are both effective in obtaining better service, but the relative effectiveness of a tip versus a compliment depends on the service context. In closed service contexts—which involve a continuous, relatively short interaction—tips are superior. For example, when getting a drink at a bar, buying a sandwich at a quick-service restaurant, or dropping off a car for valet parking, tipping early should lead to better customer service. In contrast, in open service contexts—which involve multiple interactions over a more extended period and provide an opportunity for a social connection—compliments become more effective. The results have practical implications for customers wishing to enhance their service experiences and for managers in motivating their employees.

Abstract
Although past research has shown that anthropomorphism enhances consumers' attraction to a brand when social-connectedness or effectance motives are active, the current research demonstrates that anthropomorphizing a brand becomes a detrimental marketing strategy when consumers' distinctiveness motives are salient. Four studies show that anthropomorphizing a brand positioned to be distinctive diminishes consumers' sense of agency in identity expression. As a result, when distinctiveness goals are salient, consumers are less likely to evaluate anthropomorphized (vs. nonanthropomorphized) brands favorably and are less likely to choose them to express distinctiveness. This negative effect of brand anthropomorphism, however, is contingent on the brand's positioning strategy—brand-as-supporter (supporting consumers' desires to be different) versus brand-as-agent (communicating unique brand features instead of focusing on consumers' needs) versus brand-as-controller (limiting consumers' freedom in expressing distinctiveness). Our results demonstrate that an anthropomorphized brand-as-supporter enhances consumers' sense of agency in identity expression, compared to both an anthropomorphized brand-as-agent and an anthropomorphized brand-as-controller. In turn, enhancing or thwarting consumers' sense of agency in expressing their differences from others drives the differential impact of anthropomorphizing a brand positioned to be distinctive.

AbstractThis research merges insights from the communications literature with that on the self-brand connection to examine a novel question: how does speaking versus writing about a liked brand influence the communicator's own later reactions to that brand? Our conceptualization argues that because oral communication involves a greater focus on social interaction with the communication recipient than does written communication, oral communicators are more likely to express self-related thoughts than are writers, thereby increasing their self-brand connection (SBC). We also assess the implications of this conceptualization, including the identification of theoretically derived boundary conditions for the speech/writing difference, and the downstream effects of heightened SBC. Results from five studies provide support for our predictions, informing both the basic literature on communications, and the body of work on consumer word of mouth.

AbstractA model's eyes are a powerful and ubiquitous visual feature in virtually any advertisement depicting a person. But does where the ad model's eyes look matter? Integrating insights from social psychology and performance and visual art theory, we demonstrate that when the ad model's gaze is averted (looking away from the viewer), the viewer is more readily transported into the ad narrative and responds more favorably to the ad than when the ad model's gaze is direct (looking directly at the viewer). Five multi-method experiments (field and lab studies) illustrate that averted gaze (direct gaze) enhances narrative transportation (spokesperson credibility) to boost the effectiveness of emotional (informative) ads. Study 1 is a Facebook field study that demonstrates the effect of averted (vs. direct) gaze direction on advertising effectiveness using a real brand. Studies 2a and 2b implicate enhanced narrative transportation as the underlying process mechanism by measuring (study 2a) and manipulating (study 2b) narrative transportation. Studies 3a and 3b examine ad contexts in which direct gaze can enhance ad effectiveness: when the ad has informational (vs. emotional) appeal (study 3a), and when the viewer prefers not to identify with the negative emotional content of the ad (study 3b).

Abstract
Marketers often use images to promote their products. For example, an advertisement for kitchen tools might display the tools alongside various ingredients, or an advertisement for a bookstore might showcase pictures of the store's interior. One underlying visual characteristic of such images is the degree of "entropy"—or disorder—in their content. Motivated by a fundamental principle from physics—namely, that entropy can only increase over time—the present research examines how entropy influences consumers' judgments and decisions. Across two pilot studies and five experiments, we find that while high-entropy images shift consumers' temporal focus to the past, low-entropy images shift their temporal focus to the future. These entropy-induced shifts in temporal focus influence consumers' decisions. Specifically, consistent with the notion of "fit fluency," we find that consumers evaluate past-related (e.g., vintage) products more favorably when they are accompanied by high-entropy images and future-related (e.g., futuristic) products more favorably when they are accompanied by low-entropy images. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.

Abstract
Consumers regularly encounter cues of contagious disease in daily life—a commuter sneezes on the train, a colleague blows their nose in a meeting, or they read recent headlines about the dangerous spread of a disease. Research has overwhelmingly argued that the dominant response to these cues is disgust—an emotion that leads to a desire to reject and avoid potential contamination. We argue, however, that contagious disease cues can also elicit fear. Across four experiments and two large empirical data analyses of the presence of contagious disease on actual consumption behavior, we find that cues of contagious disease increase both fear and disgust, and these emotions together form a unique behavioral tendency with respect to consumer behavior. Relative to either emotion alone, disgust and fear increase preference for more-familiar products asymmetrically over less-familiar ones. These results contribute theoretically to research on complex emotional states and the behavioral tendencies of emotions, document a systematic and consequential impact of contagious disease cues on real consumption behavior, and have significant practical implications for marketers.

AbstractTrickle-down theories suggest that status symbols and fashion trends originate from the elites and move downward, but some high-end restaurants serve lowbrow food (e.g., potato chips, macaroni and cheese), and some high-status individuals wear downscale clothing (e.g., ripped jeans, duct-taped shoes). Why would high-status actors adopt items traditionally associated with low-status groups? Using a signaling perspective to explain this phenomenon, the authors suggest that elites sometimes adopt items associated with low-status groups as a costly signal to distinguish themselves from middle-status individuals. As a result, signals sometimes trickle round, moving directly from the lower to the upper class, before diffusing to the middle class. Furthermore, consistent with a signaling perspective, the presence of multiple signaling dimensions facilitates this effect, enabling the highs to mix and match high and low signals and differentiate themselves. These findings deepen the understanding of signaling dynamics, support a trickle-round theory of fashion, and shed light on alternative status symbols.