Topic: The Impact of Social Exclusion on Consumer Preference for Visual Density

Speaker:Wan Wen

Site:B127

Time:April 4th 2018(Wednesday) 10:00-11:00am

Abstract:“This research examined the effects of social exclusion on consumers’ preferences for visual density. Our experimental studies revealed that consumers who perceive themselves to be socially excluded evaluate products with dense visual patterns more positively than their non-excluded peers. This effect occurs because social exclusion triggers a feeling of inner emptiness, and dense patterns can provide a sense of being “filled,” which helps to alleviate this feeling of emptiness. This effect is attenuated when consumers physically fill something or are compensated by a feeling of “temporal density”. These results shed light on consumers’ socially grounded product aesthetic preferences and offer practical implications for marketers, designers, and policy makers.”

Introduction to the speaker:Echo Wen Wan, Ph.D. in Marketing from Northwestern University, U.S.A, currently Professor in Marketing at Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Hong Kong. Professor Wan’s research interests are on the topics of self-regulation, social exclusion, anthropomorphism, and impact of negative social contexts on consumer behavior. She has published articles on the premier marketing journals including Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the premier psychology journals including Journal of Consumer Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. She has received the awards such as “Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar (2013)”, “Association for Consumer Research, North American Conference, Best Working Paper (2016)”, “The La Londe Conference Best Paper (2017)”, HKU Research Output Prize (2010), and HKU Faculty Outstanding Researcher (2015). She served as the Co-Chair for Association for Consumer Research, Asia-Pacific Conference (2015), She current serves on the editorial board for Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology.