Spreading joy: examining the effects of smiling models on consumer joy and attitudes
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer response to pictures of smiling models in marketing, focusing on the roles of emotional contagion from the smiling models and the perceived typicality of marketing with smiling models.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reports the findings from three experimental studies, comparing consumer response to two versions of an advertisement (Study 1) and a packaging design (Study 2 and 3), including either a picture of a smiling or a non-smiling model. To measure consumer response, a combination of self-report questionnaires and eye-tracking methodology was used.
Findings
The pictures of smiling models produced more consumer joy and more positive attitudes for the marketing. The positive effects on attitudes were mediated by consumer joy, and the effects on consumer joy were mediated by the perceived typicality of the marketing with smiling models.
Originality/value
Despite the ubiquity of photos of smiling faces in marketing, very few studies have isolated the effects of the smile appeal on consumer response to marketing objects. By comparing marketing where the same model is shown smiling or with a neutral facial expression, the positive effects were isolated. The roles of emotional contagion and perceived typicality in this mechanism were also examined and implications of the findings for research and practitioners are discussed.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the generous support from the Torsten Söderberg Foundation, the Hakon Swenson Foundation and The Nils-Erik Wirsäll Program that has enabled this research.
Citation
Berg, H., Söderlund, M. and Lindström, A. (2015), "Spreading joy: examining the effects of smiling models on consumer joy and attitudes", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 32 No. 6, pp. 459-469. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-03-2015-1356
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited