Current Issue Summary
Dec 2023 (Vol. 64, Issue 4)
If I Understand Why a Product Looks Weird, Will I Buy It? How Reducing Causal Uncertainty about Ugly Goods Can Increase Purchase Intentions
A two-pronged carrot. A curved cucumber. No, thanks. Consumers tend to shun products that are “aesthetically unexpected,” Elizabeth A. Minton (University of Wyoming), Nathalie Spielmann, and Pierrick Gomez (NEOMA Business School) observe. But could that rejection be mitigated if an ad promoting these products provided a causal explanation for their deformity? In four studies that focused on oddly shaped produce, “consumers exhibited higher preference for aesthetically unexpected goods when advertisements featured low causal uncertainty (i.e., few causes),” the authors write. This was the case, “particularly in comparison with when no causal information was provided” and the effect occurred, “regardless of cause type (human versus natural).” Among the takeaways:
- “When consumers do not understand the reason for an odd-looking product’s appearance, exposure to that product causes uncertainty, which decreases purchase intentions.
- “Including the reason for a product’s unexpected shape in messaging can increase purchase intentions (e.g., by justifying the shape of misshapen produce).
- “Pick only one reason to explain an unexpected product, and do not offer multiple different reasons, because this increases uncertainty as to the central cause of the unexpectedness.
- “These results emphasize the importance of including causal information in advertising and point-of-purchase marketing communications to reduce feelings of causal uncertainty and encourage consumers to purchase aesthetically unexpected goods.”