Journal
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH
Volume 44, Issue 5, Pages 1104-1122Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/jcr/ucx090
Keywords
dominance; power; product anthropomorphism; face ratio; face perception; product faces; evolutionary psychology
Categories
Funding
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Plumptre Research Fellowship
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A product's front face (e.g., a watch face or car front) is typically the first point of contact and a key determinant of a consumer's initial impression about the product. Drawing on evolutionary accounts of human face perception suggesting that the face width-to-height ratio (f WHR: bizygomatic width divided by upper-face height) can signal dominance and affect its overall evaluation, this research is based on the premise that product faces are perceived in much the same way as human faces. Five experiments tested this premise. Results suggest that like human faces, product faces with high (vs. low) f WHR are perceived as more dominant. However, while human faces with high f WHR are liked less, product faces with high f WHR are liked more as revealed by consumer preference and willingness-to-pay scores. The greater preference for the high f WHR product faces is motivated by the consumers' desire to enhance and signal their own dominant status as evidenced by the moderating effects of type of goal and of usage context. Brand managers and product designers may be particularly interested in these findings since a simple design feature can have potentially significant marketplace impact, as was also confirmed by the field data obtained from secondary sources.
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