SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Business Administration
No 2006:8:
Visual persuasion with physically attractive models in ads: An examination of how the ad model influences product evaluations
Magnus Söderlund ()
and Fredrik Lange ()
Abstract: This paper examines the prevalent advertising practice of
visually juxtaposing an anonymous, physically attractive ad model and a
product in terms of its effects on the attitude toward the product. In this
appeal, in which there are no explicit verbal claims about how the two
objects are connected, we argue that the physically attractive model sets
in motion a process in which emotions and the attitude toward the ad model
serve as mediating variables, and that this process ultimately results in
an impact on the attitude toward the product. Three empirical studies were
made, with stimulus images from the fashion industry, and the findings
indicate that emotions and the attitude toward the ad model indeed
contributed to the product attitudes. The findings also indicate that
images comprising physically attractive ad models produced higher product
attitudes compared to a visual display of only the product.
Keywords: Attitude toward the ad model; attitude toward the product; physical attractiveness; emotions; appraisals; (follow links to similar papers)
53 pages, August 28, 2006
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