Imagining Yourself in the Scene: The Interactive Effects of Goal-Driven Self-Imagery and Visual Perspectives on Consumer Behavior

18 Pages Posted: 17 Jul 2014

See all articles by Yuwei Jiang

Yuwei Jiang

Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Rashmi Adaval

University of Cincinnati - Department of Marketing

Yael Steinhart

Independent

Robert S. Wyer

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) - Department of Marketing

Date Written: July 16, 2014

Abstract

Consumers often imagine themselves in a scene and engage in such self-imagery while processing information. The goals that they have when they engage in such imagery (e.g., a goal to construct a story of the experience vs. a goal to acquire information) can influence how the mental images they generate affect judgments. When pictures from very different perspectives are provided, those trying to imagine themselves in the scene in order to create a story of the experience have to shift visual perspectives in order to imagine the entire experience. This shift in visual perspective can increase processing difficulty and decrease evaluations of the product or service being described. When individuals are simply imagining themselves acquiring information about the product or service, however, presenting information from different perspectives has a positive impact on evaluations. Four experiments confirmed these effects and the assumptions underlying their conceptualization.

Keywords: Consumer Behavior, Consumer Psychology, Mental Imagery, Visual Perspective

Suggested Citation

Jiang, Yuwei and Adaval, Rashmi and Steinhart, Yael and Wyer, Robert S., Imagining Yourself in the Scene: The Interactive Effects of Goal-Driven Self-Imagery and Visual Perspectives on Consumer Behavior (July 16, 2014). Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 41, No. 3, 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2466950

Yuwei Jiang (Contact Author)

Hong Kong Polytechnic University ( email )

Hong Kong
China

Rashmi Adaval

University of Cincinnati - Department of Marketing ( email )

United States

Yael Steinhart

Independent ( email )

Robert S. Wyer

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) - Department of Marketing ( email )

Department of Marketing
Clear Water Bay, Kowloon
Hong Kong

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