Marketing Faculty Publications and Presentations
In Search of Aesthetics in Consumer Marketing: An Examination of Aesthetic Stimuli from the Philosophy of Art and the Psychology of Art
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2013
Abstract
The purposes of the paper are to illustrate the concept of aesthetics on the basis of the philosophy of art and the psychology of art, and to describe the effects of aesthetic stimuli on consumers’ psychological and behavioral responses in an integrated framework. A multidisciplinary literature review and synthesis are provided to illustrate several important issues: the ontology and axiology of aesthetics, aesthetic judgment and aesthetic experience, experimental aesthetics, theories of the psychology of art, and the dimensionality of aesthetics. An integrated framework of the effects of aesthetics is built upon the Stimulus-OrganismResponse framework from environmental psychology, and depicts how the utilitarian and hedonic dimensions of aesthetics influence consumers’ cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses in the course of aesthetic judgment and aesthetic experience. Theories of the psychology of art, including psychoanalysis, the Gestalt theory, behaviorism, information theory, and homeostasis theory, are proposed as theoretical foundations. Aesthetic communications theory offers the potential to complement and revive the research stream on store atmospherics and servicescapes, with direct implications for developing marketing strategies dealing with environmental impacts on consumers and the co-creation of value.
Recommended Citation
Wang, Yong J., Kevin W. Cruthirds, Catherine N. Axinn, and Chiquan Guo. "In search of aesthetics in consumer marketing: An examination of aesthetic stimuli from the philosophy of art and the psychology of art." Academy of Marketing Studies Journal 17, no. 2 (2013): 37-56.
Publication Title
Academy of Marketing Studies Journal