Knowledge that Transforms

This research demonstrates a visual phenomenon with broad implications for consumers: the perceived size of products depends on the saturation of their color. Results from six experiments, employing objects and products with various shapes and hues, show that increasing color saturation increases size perceptions. This influence is explained by the tendency for saturated color to capture attention, which, in turn, is explained by the arousal that saturated color stimulates. This research also demonstrates several downstream outcomes of the effect of saturation on size perceptions: evaluations are more favorable—and willingness to pay is higher—for products with high (low) saturation when usage goals call for large (small) size. Additionally, participants choose more of a product to fill a container with higher saturation. Further, the saturation of an object’s color affects the perceived size of its surroundings, such that when a product with high (vs. low) saturation is used as a benchmark, the environment is perceived to be comparatively smaller (vs. larger). Implications for aesthetics, design, sensory marketing, and related topics are discussed. Lastly, to aid future color research, appendix A outlines general challenges and recommendations in connection with the conceptualization, manipulation, and measurement of color.

Across the five sensory modalities we examine an unexplored difference in imagery: psychological distance. In particular, we propose that imagined senses can be psychologically more proximal or distal based on the maximum physical distance typically required for a stimulus to be sensed. Specifically, we propose that imagined senses that require close proximity to the body in order to be sensed (i.e., taste, touch) will feel more psychologically proximal than senses that do not require such close proximity (i.e., hearing, sight). We obtain support for our theoretical framework across a pilot study, four lab studies, and one field study by examining how images evoked using different sensory modalities differentially influence variables shown in past research to vary along psychological distance: (1) the imagined distance between the consumer and the stimulus, (2) product perceptions on other dimensions of psychological distance, and (3) persuasion when matched with other dimensions of psychological distance.

Research in political psychology indicates that liberals are less motivated than conservatives by epistemic, existential, and relational needs to reduce uncertainty, threat, and social discord, and are therefore more prone to challenge the status quo. In a compelling extension of this work into the field of consumer behavior, Jung, Garbarino, Briley, and Wynhausen (this issue) demonstrate that people residing in more liberal (vs. conservative) areas register more complaints with the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and dispute more resolutions offered in response to their complaints. Furthermore, liberals were found to object more strongly to the hypothetical imposition of an unanticipated banking fee, and this effect was mediated by system justification. Inspired by Jung and colleagues, we investigated the hypothesis that liberals would also be more likely to buy and boycott consumer products for political reasons. We analyzed data from the American National Election Studies and European Social Surveys and discovered that, even after we adjusted for demographic factors, liberals in the United States and leftists in all 15 European countries were more likely than conservatives and rightists to report having bought a product—or refrained from buying a product—for political reasons.

While research on conspicuous consumption has typically analyzed how people spend money on products that signal status, this article investigates conspicuous consumption in relation to time. The authors argue that a busy and overworked lifestyle, rather than a leisurely lifestyle, has become an aspirational status symbol. A series of studies shows that the positive inferences of status in response to busyness and lack of leisure time are driven by the perceptions that a busy person possesses desired human capital characteristics (e.g., competence and ambition) and is scarce and in demand in the job market. This research uncovers an alternative kind of conspicuous consumption that operates by shifting the focus from the preciousness and scarcity of goods to the preciousness and scarcity of individuals. Furthermore, the authors examine cultural values (perceived social mobility) and differences among cultures (North America vs. Europe) to demonstrate moderators and boundary conditions of the positive associations derived from signals of busyness.