Unique consumption: the impact of busy mindset on preference for angular versus circular shapes
Journal of Product & Brand Management
ISSN: 1061-0421
Article publication date: 22 February 2024
Issue publication date: 10 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The shape of a product plays a crucial role in shaping consumer behavior. Despite the voluminous research on factors influencing consumers’ shape preferences, there remains a limited understanding of how the busy mindset, a mentality increasingly emphasized by marketing campaigns, works. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between a busy mindset and the preference for angular-shaped versus circular-shaped products and brand logos.
Design/methodology/approach
This research consists of seven experimental studies using various shape stimuli, distinct manipulations of busy mindset, different assessments of shape preference and samples drawn from multiple countries.
Findings
The findings reveal that a busy mindset leads to a preference for angular shapes over circular ones by amplifying the need for uniqueness. In addition, these effects are attenuated when products are scarce.
Originality/value
This research represents one of the pioneering efforts to study the role of a busy mindset on consumers’ aesthetic preferences. Beyond yielding insights for practitioners into visual marketing, this research contributes to the theories on the busy mindset and shape preference.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Since submission of this article, the following author has updated their affiliation: Haiyang Zhou is at the Linyi Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Linyi, Shangdong, China.
Funding information: This research was supported by a grant from the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (32271125) awarded to Yubo Hou.
Compliance with ethical standards:
Ethical approval: The study was approved by the School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Conflict of interest statement: On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Informed consent: All the participants included in the study signed the informed consent before answering the paper-and-pencil questionnaire.
Data availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Citation
Sun, Z., Zhou, H., Yang, T., Wang, K. and Hou, Y. (2024), "Unique consumption: the impact of busy mindset on preference for angular versus circular shapes", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 357-369. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-02-2023-4366
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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