Distance for Prestige, Close for Strength

When status from item ownership is an important benefit to people you want to buy the item, keep some distance. Distance in ads, that is, between visual depictions of the item and any visual depictions of people using or admiring it. Additional open space supports portrayals of prestige.
     Researchers at Nanjing University, National Sun Yat-sen University, and Northwestern University saw this effect in their experiment involving a coffee machine. The machine was given a fictitious name, Porallés, to avoid having the participants carry a pre-existing product image into the experiment.
     The participants were shown an ad which featured a man standing behind a kitchen counter, with the coffee machine placed either close to the man or some distance from the man. For some of the participants in each of the groups, the ad carried the tagline “Aromatic coffee, distinguished taste. Luxurious life, prestigious choice.” For the other participants, the tagline was “Aromatic coffee, trendy taste. Cozy life, popular choice.”
     After viewing the ad, each participant was asked how willing they’d be to pay a premium price for the Porallés. Analysis of the results showed a significantly higher willingness to pay the premium among those presented the “distinguished taste” tagline when the machine was shown at a distance from the model compared to when the machine was shown close to the model.
     Among study participants shown the “trendy taste” tagline, there was a hint of a difference in the other direction—a higher willingness to pay the premium when the machine was shown close to the model. Replying to my inquiry about the study, Prof. Angela Y. Lee, one of the researchers, wrote, “That hint of difference you mentioned is important, too. The distance effect goes both ways. To enhance status, spatial distance helps. To enhance closeness, spatial proximity helps.”
     Also, bringing the item and the model together in an ad works well when what you want to portray strength. Researchers at National University of Singapore and University of British Columbia asked undergraduates to evaluate the effectiveness of a fictitious acne care product. In some ads, an image of an acne-free face was positioned touching an image of the product. In other ads, the two images were placed apart. Both ads included identical text describing why the product works well.
     The predicted product effectiveness was greater from study participants shown the images touching than for those shown the other ad.

Successfully influence the most prosperous & most loyal consumer age group. For the specific strategies & tactics you need, click here.

Click for more…

White Out If Product Color Matches Better 

Cause Trust with First-Things-First Effects 

Impress Without Intimidating