Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Eunju Ko, Department of Clothing and Textiles, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemoon-gu, Seoul 120749, Korea. Electronic mail may be sent to [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author

Yuri Seo,

Yuri Seo

orcid.org/0000-0003-0463-4708

University of Auckland

Search for more papers by this author

Felix Septianto,

Felix Septianto

orcid.org/0000-0002-7487-761X

University of Queensland

Search for more papers by this author

Eunju Ko,

Corresponding Author

Eunju Ko

[email protected]

Yonsei University

Search for more papers by this author

First published: 01 May 2021

https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1248

Citations: 13

The authors would like to thank Hyejin Jun for developing advertising stimuli for this project. This work was supported by Global Research Network program through the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2017S1A2A2041810).

Accepted by S. Christian Wheeler and Lauren Block, Editors; Associate Editor, Derek Rucker

About

Sections

PDF

Tools

Share a link

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Linked In
Reddit
Wechat

Abstract

The art infusion effect posits that exposure to visual artworks heightens the perceived luxuriousness of related brands. Across six studies conducted in different cultural settings, we establish that the art infusion effect is dependent on cultural congruence. That is, when the artwork’s country-of-origin (CO) is culturally congruent (vs. incongruent) with the brand’s CO, such an artwork bestows higher perceptions of brand luxuriousness. This occurs because cultural incongruence attenuates the art infusion effect. We term this moderating effect as brand-artwork CO congruence and show that it qualifies art infusion even if the congruent (vs. incongruent) artwork CO is stereotypically perceived as less luxurious. We further show that perceived brand authenticity underlies the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence. Overall, the present research illustrates that cultural congruence and subsequent perception of authenticity are critical components of the art infusion effect.

Many established luxury brands imbue their products and advertising campaigns with art references to reinforce their symbolic status (e.g., Gucci × Alessandro Michele, LV × Andy Warhol), and brands that aspire to be seen as more luxurious are following suit (e.g., Samsung and the “Art Heist” Campaign). Such marketing practices are consistent with the art infusion effect (Hagtvedt & Patrick, 2008a, 2008b), which posits that exposure to visual artworks improves consumer evaluations of related objects, such as products and brands, by heightening their perceived luxuriousness. The art infusion effect is notably content independent—that is, anything that is perceived as art bestows luxuriousness upon the related objects regardless of the art’s content or valence (Hagtvedt & Patrick, 2008b, 2011).

Although art infusion has received considerable attention (Cuny, Pinelli, Fornerino, & deMarles, 2020; Huettl & Gierl, 2012; Lee, Chen, & Wang, 2015; Logkizidou, Bottomley, Angell, & Evanschitzky, 2019), extant theory has largely neglected whether and how this effect is influenced by cultural correlates such as cultural capital (DiMaggio, 1987), cultural institutions (Balfe, 1987), and the country-of-origin effects (Hong & Kang, 2006; Li & Wyer, 1994). Yet, the contextualization of art infusion with cultural correlates is both theoretically important and practically relevant. From a theoretical standpoint, artworks themselves function primarily as cultural artifacts imbued with sociohistorical meanings (Balfe, 1987; Hoffman, 2003; Joy & Sherry, 2003). Therefore, cultural mechanisms may amplify or constrain the art infusion effect. From a practical standpoint, luxury consumption has become a multicultural affair (BCG-Altagamma, 2019; Seo, Buchanan-Oliver, & Cruz, 2015). Thus, it is managerially relevant to consider whether and how the art infusion effect can be used effectively to increase brand luxuriousness across different cultural settings and, increasingly, at the confluence of multiple cultural influences (Seo et al., 2015).

The present research represents an effort to incorporate cultural considerations into the art infusion effect. Specifically, building on the research on country-of-origin (CO) effects (e.g., Magnusson, Westjohn, & Sirianni, 2019; Roy, Guha, Biswas, & Grewal, 2019) and the role of authenticity in luxury consumption (Beverland, 2005; Joy, Wang, Chan, Sherry, & Cui, 2014), we argue that CO characteristics of the artwork and of the advertised brand, in combination, qualify the art infusion effect. That is, we show that when the artwork CO is culturally congruent (vs. incongruent) with the brand CO, it bestows higher perceptions of brand luxuriousness due to cultural incongruence attenuating the art infusion effect. We term this effect as the brand-artwork CO congruence.

We further suggest that the perceived authenticity of the brand, defined as the consumer’s perception that the brand is culturally genuine or real (Magnusson et al., 2019), underlies the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence. For one, artworks are symbolic artifacts that encapsulate the traditions, history, and heritage of cultural institutions (Balfe, 1987); thus, “infusing” a brand with culturally congruent (vs. incongruent) artworks is likely to influence consumers’ perception of the advertised brand’s cultural authenticity. For another, authenticity is a quintessential value perception of luxury brands, because modern consumers expect luxury brands to be “the real thing” (Beverland, 2005). These factors, in combination, lead to our prediction that brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) will result in higher perceptions regarding the advertised brand’s authenticity with subsequent consequences for its perceived luxuriousness and consumer preferences. Notably, we test and show that this effect of cultural congruence occurs even if the culturally incongruent (vs. congruent) artwork CO, on its own, is stereotypically perceived as a more luxurious CO.

Theoretical Framework

Art Infusion Effect

In their seminal paper, Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) conceptualize and demonstrate the art infusion effect, wherein the integration of visual art into advertising and product design improves consumer evaluations by heightening perceptions of brand luxuriousness. The art infusion effect occurs because art is intrinsically tied to a heritage of high culture, sophistication, and luxury (Hoffman, 2003). Consequently, the presence of artwork can “spill over” such that related objects seem more luxurious (Hagtvedt & Patrick, 2008b). Subsequent research corroborated these findings in multiple consumption contexts (Cuny et al., 2020; Huettl & Gierl, 2012; Lee et al., 2015; Logkizidou et al., 2019).

An important aspect of the art infusion effect is content independence. That is, the art infusion effect is akin to category-based effects (Fiske & Neuberg, 1990), whereby it elicits positive evaluations because consumers, in general, view art positively regardless of the specific content of a given artwork. In support of this view, Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) show that the art infusion effect does not depend on the valence of the depicted scene, and Lacey et al. (2011) show that exposure to art (vs. nonart) activates the same reward-circuitry regions of the brain on fMRI regardless of the hedonic content of the art. In sum, we love art (and related objects) simply because it is art.

Considering the content-independent nature of the art infusion effect, one may presume that any artwork can produce a similarly positive effect on product evaluations. However, several studies began to explore which factors can amplify or attenuate the art infusion effect. At the information-processing level, since the spillover effect of art infusion hinges on the recognition of an artwork as a work of art, such an effect does not occur when consumers view the artwork as something else. Hagtvedt and Patrick (2011) show that making consumers shift their focus on the actual content of an artwork can result in the artwork being viewed as a mere illustration, thereby attenuating the art infusion effect.

Beyond the effect of processing an artwork as a work of art (vs. not), other studies have endeavored to investigate how the strength of art infusion varies in the context of marketing activities, given that such variations have obvious managerial relevance. Yet, emerging findings from these studies are inconclusive. First, previous research considered whether the characteristics of the related product may offer boundary conditions for the art infusion effect. For instance, Huettl and Gierl (2012) suggest that the art infusion effect occurs for hedonic products but not for functional ones. However, this seems to be inconsistent with Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b), where the art infusion effect was observed in the context of soap dispensers and cutlery items, both of which are functional products. In addition, some studies argue that the art infusion effect occurs only when consumers are given price information (Huettl & Gierl, 2012), while other studies find that the art infusion effect occurs irrespective of price information (Lee et al., 2015). Second, recent research has explored how contextual (i.e., noncontent) characteristics of an artwork can influence the art infusion effect. In particular, Peluso, Pino, Amatulli, and Guido (2017) find that highly recognizable (vs. less recognizable) artworks can amplify the art infusion effect among consumers who seek (vs. do not seek) status. By contrast, other studies find that the art infusion effect occurs even for relatively unfamiliar artworks (Lee et al., 2015).

In the context of the aforementioned discussion, it is both theoretically and practically important to consider which moderating factors facilitate or constrain the art infusion effect. Theoretically, an understanding of the moderators would shed further light on the underlying mechanism of art infusion and potential boundary conditions. Practically, it would provide managers with insights into the most effective uses of artworks to enhance the perceived luxuriousness of their brands.

CO Congruence and Art Infusion

The present research draws on the theories and research in the domain of CO effects (Magnusson et al., 2019; Roy et al., 2019) and the role of authenticity in luxury branding (Beverland, 2005; Joy et al., 2014; Septianto, Seo, Sung, & Zhao, 2020) to posit that cultural congruence (vs. incongruence) between the artwork and the advertised brand (i.e., brand-artwork CO congruence) plays a consequential role in determining the art infusion effect. In this endeavor, we first theorize two possible accounts of CO effects that lead to different predications regarding how CO characteristics can influence the art infusion effect—the stereotype-based CO effect and the congruence-based CO effect. Then, we take into consideration how consumers integrate different CO-relevant information (Magnusson et al., 2019; Roy et al., 2019) and the role of authenticity within consumer perceptions of luxury brands (Beverland, 2005; Joy et al., 2014; Septianto et al., 2020), to discuss why we expect the congruence-based CO effect (i.e., brand-artwork CO congruence) to prevail over the stereotype-based CO effect in art infusion.

Stereotype-based CO effect

The stereotype-based CO effect occurs when specific meanings, or stereotypes, that consumers possess about countries bias their subsequent evaluations about the objects associated with these countries (Herz & Diamantopoulos, 2013; Maheswaran, 1994). To illustrate, if consumers hold positive (negative) perceptions regarding a given country, or the subset of country-relevant knowledge, then they are likely to show more positive (negative) evaluations of the objects associated with these countries, because their evaluations become assimilated into their prior-established CO stereotypes (Hong & Kang, 2006; Li & Wyer, 1994). Thus, in the context of art infusion, the stereotype-based CO effect would predict that pairing a brand with artworks that convey a more (vs. less) luxurious CO stereotype (e.g., European CO; BCG-Altagamma, 2019; McNeil & Riello, 2016) would amplify the art infusion effect—by allowing the associated luxury stereotype to spill over onto the advertised brand. Accordingly, this effect would be akin to how contextual factors of an artwork, such as whether the artwork is a highly recognized work of art or not (Peluso et al., 2017), can influence the art infusion effect.

Congruence-based CO effect

Meanwhile, the congruence-based effect concerns the congruity of CO information within a preestablished schema (Magnusson et al., 2019; Roy et al., 2019). This effect posits that consumers organize associations about a country into a schema, defined as a “cognitive structure that represents knowledge about a concept or type of stimulus, including its attributes and the relations among those attributes” (Fiske & Taylor, 1991, p. 98). Because consumers generally prefer cultural schema congruence over incongruence, they are likely to show more positive evaluations when they are exposed to CO-schema congruent (vs. incongruent) information (Magnusson et al., 2019).

A related stream of research on cultural mixing—which refers to the presence of symbolic elements from two distinct cultures in the same space at the same time (Chiu, Mallorie, Keh, & Law, 2009; Hao, Li, Peng, Peng, & Torelli, 2016; Torelli & Ahluwalia, 2012)—provides further support for the congruence-based CO effect. Specifically, several studies in this domain show that the exposure to cultural mixing (vs. single culture) elicits less positive evaluations (Cheon, Christopoulos, & Hong, 2016; Torelli & Ahluwalia, 2012). Most notably, in the context of brand extensions, Torelli and Ahluwalia (2012) found that culturally congruent brand extensions (i.e., when both the brand and the extension category cued the same cultural schema) were evaluated more positively than culturally neutral extensions, which in turn were evaluated more favorably than culturally incongruent ones (i.e., those that mixed two different cultural schemas). In their study, such differences were found to be driven by processing (dis)fluency (Graf, Mayer, & Landwehr, 2018; Schwarz, 2004) associated with the cultural congruence (vs. incongruence) of brand extensions. These findings, therefore, support the tenet that exposing consumers to CO-schema congruent (vs. incongruent) information should elicit more positive consumer evaluations.

Furthermore, an important aspect of the congruence-based CO effect is that positive benefits arising from schema congruence (vs. incongruence) occur irrespective of the stereotype content of CO. That is, even if consumers do not hold favorable perceptions regarding a given country, the congruence-based CO effect still occurs (Magnusson et al., 2019). Thus, in the context of art infusion, the congruence-based CO effect would predict that the spillover effect from art infusion would be stronger when there is brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence).

CO congruence and cultural authenticity

From the aforementioned discussion, we can infer that, depending on the characteristics of a given brand’s CO, the stereotype-based and congruence-based CO accounts make the same or opposite predictions about which types of artwork COs will produce a stronger effect of art infusion on brand luxuriousness. Specifically, if the brand’s CO is associated with a luxury stereotype, then the two accounts make the same prediction: The optimal artwork CO is the same as the brand’s CO. For instance, European brands should be “infused” with European artworks because Europe is stereotypically luxurious, and European artworks are congruent with European brands (BCG-Altagamma, 2019; McNeil & Riello, 2016). If the brand’s CO is not associated with a luxury stereotype (e.g., Asia; BCG-Altagamma, 2019), however, then the two accounts make opposite predictions. The congruence-based CO effect favors an artwork CO that is culturally congruent (but not stereotypically luxurious), while the stereotype-based CO effect favors a CO that is stereotypically luxurious (but is culturally incongruent). An intriguing question, therefore, arises regarding which type of CO effect would prevail when there is a trade-off between the two accounts of CO effects. For instance, is it more effective to infuse Asian brands with European artworks, the artwork CO of which is more stereotypically luxurious, or with Asian artworks that are more culturally congruent with Asian brands?

When there is a trade-off between a luxury stereotype and cultural congruence, we predict that the congruence-based effect (i.e., brand-artwork CO congruence) dominates the stereotype-based effect. This prediction is informed by research on how the congruence of CO-relevant information can influence brand perceptions (Magnusson et al., 2019) and on the role of authenticity in luxury consumption (Beverland, 2005; Joy et al., 2014). First, recent research shows that when a brand is positioned to convey brand personalities that are matched (vs. mismatched) with the perceived stereotypical personalities of its CO, it can strengthen (undermine) perceptions regarding the brand’s cultural authenticity—defined as perceptions of the brand’s genuineness in terms of its cultural origins (Magnusson et al., 2019). Such an effect occurs because exposing consumers to CO-relevant information that is congruent (vs. incongruent) with the brand CO influences previously formed schema for that CO and, thereby, how consumers judge the brand’s cultural authenticity (Magnusson et al., 2019). In short, whereas culturally congruent information is likely to increase perceived cultural authenticity, culturally incongruent information diminishes this form of authenticity. Thus, if we consider that artworks, at least in part, convey CO-relevant information, then this CO congruence effect could also apply in the context of art infusion. Specifically, artworks are important symbolic artefacts that encapsulate traditions and heritage of cultural institutions and ideologies (Balfe, 1987). Thus, infusing a brand with the artwork that either matches or mismatches its CO is likely to increase or undermine perceptions regarding this brand’s cultural authenticity.

Second, previous research on luxury branding shows that authenticity plays an important role within consumer perceptions of luxury brands (Beverland, 2005; Joy et al., 2014; Septianto et al., 2020). This is because luxury products have traditionally conveyed the aura of being created by artisans employing long-standing traditions—which translate into naïve theories that for a product to be considered as a luxury brand, it must be the “real thing” (Beverland, 2005). Accordingly, if brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) elicits higher perceptions regarding the brand’s authenticity, we would expect that such perceptions about authenticity would also, correspondingly, influence perceptions about the brand’s luxuriousness. Thus, brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) should moderate the effect of art infusion.

Importantly, we expect this effect of brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) to occur even if the incongruent artwork CO, by itself, is perceived as a more luxurious CO than the congruent artwork CO. This is because a positive effect of art infusion arising from the artwork with culturally incongruent CO is likely to be attenuated by the undermined perceptions of brand authenticity. Indeed, previous research shows that when consumers integrate contradictory information cues (i.e., heightened perceptions of luxuriousness arising from the art infusion effect vs. reduced perceptions of luxuriousness arising from the undermined authenticity), the negatively valenced information cues get relatively more weight during evaluations than the positive ones (Anderson, 1965; Miyazaki, Grewal, & Goodstein, 2005). This suggests that the negative effect of reduced authenticity on perceived brand luxuriousness that occurs due to cultural incongruence is likely to overweigh the incongruent artwork’s positive effect of art infusion. Specifically, consumers believe that it is necessary for luxury brands to be authentic (Beverland, 2005; Joy et al., 2014; Septianto et al., 2020). Thus, if the culturally incongruent artwork undermines perceptions about the advertised brand’s authenticity, such perceptions are likely to impede this artwork’s ability to produce the art infusion effect.

In the case of brand-artwork CO congruence, however, even if the congruent (vs. incongruent) CO artwork, on its own, is perceived as less luxurious, the valence of such artwork remains positive. Thus, in the absence of negative effects, the culturally congruent artwork should consistently produce the art infusion effect. Given this, overall, we hypothesize brand-artwork CO congruence to be the key determining factor that underlies how CO characteristics influence the art infusion effect, which is particularly relevant when the brand CO is not associated with a luxury stereotype. Formally:

Hypothesis H1.Brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) (a) leads to more favorable brand attitudes, and (b) the effect is mediated by the perceived luxuriousness of the brand.

Hypothesis H2.Perceived brand authenticity mediates the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence on the perceived luxuriousness of the brand.

Empirical Overview

We test our hypotheses in a series of four main and two follow-up studies, where each study builds on the prior study, replicates the results, and attends to pending issues.

Stimuli Development

With assistance from a professional graphic designer, we developed two sets of advertisements specifically for the present research (see Appendix A for the stimuli and Appendix B for all measures used in the present research). The advertisements were for two real brands (Sulwhasoo and CUCKOO) from South Korea. We chose South Korea as the brand’s CO because it is associated with high quality but is not stereotypically luxurious; we confirmed these associations in a pretest with 101 Amazon MTurkers in the US. We conducted this pretest with US participants because the US was not used as either artwork CO or brand CO in any of our studies. In a between-subjects design, participants indicated their perceptions of brands from either South Korea or Europe, which is strongly associated with luxury brands (BCG-Altagamma, 2019). Specifically, we asked participants whether “the products from [this country] (1) feel luxurious and (2) have a high quality”; participants responded on two 7-point scales (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree). As we expected, the two COs did not differ significantly in perceived quality (M_Korea = 5.02, SD = 1.38 vs. M_Europe = 5.37, SD = 1.19; t(99) = 1.35, p = .18), but products from South Korea were perceived as significantly less luxurious than products from Europe (M_Korea = 4.57, SD = 1.43 vs. M_Europe = 5.21, SD = 1.21; t(99) = 2.43, p = .02).

Within each set, the advertised brand was paired with either artwork from South Korea (i.e., congruent but stereotypically less luxurious CO) or with artwork from Europe (i.e., incongruent but stereotypically more luxurious CO). Specifically, the first set of advertisements featured (1) Minhwa (a folk painting of flowers) by Kim Singu from Korea or (2) Sunflowers by Van Gogh from Europe. The second set featured (1) Obongdo (a folk painting of the night sky and mountains) by Kwon Jeong-Soon from Korea or (2) Starry Night by Van Gogh from Europe.

We conducted an additional pretest employing a 2 (artwork CO: Korea, Europe) × 2 (set: 1 [flower image], 2 [night sky]) between-subjects design with two hundred six Amazon MTurkers. In each condition, participants rated the extent to which the artwork felt luxurious and was of high quality (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree). A two-way ANOVA revealed only a significant main effect of the artwork’s CO on perceived luxuriousness (F(1, 202) = 13.52, p < .001). Within each set, the chosen artworks varied in perceived luxuriousness as we intended (set 1 [flower]: M_Korea = 4.60, SD = 1.40 vs. M_Europe = 5.27, SD = 1.51; F(1, 202) = 5.70, p = .02; set 2 [night sky]: M_Korea = 4.63, SD = 1.52 vs. M_Europe = 5.42, SD = 1.23; F(1, 202) = 7.93, p = .005) and did not differ in perceived quality, also as we intended (set 1 [flower]: M_Korea = 5.58, SD = 0.97 vs. M_Europe = 5.45, SD = 1.45; F(1, 202) = 0.24, p = .63; set 2 [night sky]: M_Korea = 5.56, SD = 1.24 vs. M_Europe = 5.85, SD = 1.59; F(1, 202) = 1.25, p = .27).

Thus, each set of advertisements contained one artwork from a congruent (but less luxurious) CO and one artwork from an incongruent (but more luxurious) CO. This design enabled us to compare whether the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence dominates the stereotype-based CO effect, as we predicted. As a control, we also included a no-art version of the advertisements using a photograph (with similar content) instead of a painting.

Studies

We conducted six studies in four countries to test our predictions. Study 1 offered initial evidence for our hypotheses by demonstrating the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence in an advertisement for a local brand. The results of Study 1 plausibly could be explained by the alternative explanation of participant-artwork CO congruence. Therefore, Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 with an advertisement for a foreign brand. Study 2 also employed a control “no-art” condition, which enabled us to establish that the art infusion effect is attenuated when there is brand-artwork CO incongruence. A follow-up to Study 2 replicated the results (a) using a fictitious name for the advertised brand, (b) including a more stringent manipulation of brand-artwork CO congruence, (c) altering the order of the target measures, and (d) employing participants from another CO. Study 3 used the “moderation-of-process” approach (Spencer, Zanna, & Fong, 2005) to show that the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) is attenuated by other cues of cultural authenticity. A follow-up to Study 3 extended the main results by showing that a heightened perception of authenticity can “restore” the art infusion effect in the case of brand-artwork CO incongruence. Finally, Study 4 tested the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence with consequential consumer decisions (Inman, Campbell, Kirmani, & Price, 2018).

Study 1

Study 1 offers initial support for Hypotheses 1a, 1b, and 2 by showing that (1) brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) produces a stronger effect of art infusion, and that (2) brand authenticity underlies this effect.

Method

Participants and design

One hundred four undergraduate students (64% females, M_age = 24.17, SD = 2.30) at a large private university in South Korea participated in this pen-and-paper experiment for extra course credit. Participants were randomly assigned within a one-factor, two-level (brand-artwork CO: congruent, incongruent) between-subjects design.

Procedure

Participants were told that researchers were soliciting feedback on print advertisements for an upcoming issue of a fashion magazine. They were shown one of the two advertisements for Sulwhasoo, a South Korean cosmetics brand. The advertisements used identical product images and descriptions but varied in the artistic background image: either Minhwa by Kim Singu in the congruent condition or Sunflowers by Van Gogh in the incongruent condition. As a manipulation check, participants rated the extent to which the image used in the advertisement represented a work of art (1 = not at all, 7 = a lot).

Next, participants rated the extent to which the brand seemed “prestigious” and “luxurious” on two 7-point scales (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree); the two ratings were averaged into a measure of brand luxuriousness; r = .43, p < .001. Participants also rated the extent to which the brand seemed “authentic,” “unique,” and “exclusive” on 7-point scales (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree); the latter two measures were included because previous research shows that these two brand characteristics are also important value perceptions of luxury brands (Septianto et al., 2020). For the dependent variable, participants indicated their attitude toward the advertised brand on four bipolar, 7-point items (“unfavorable–favorable,” “bad–good,” “negative–positive,” and “unattractive–attractive;” α = .71). Finally, participants indicated their age and gender and were debriefed.

Results

Manipulation check

The image in each condition was indeed perceived as “art” (M_congruent = 5.02, SD_congruent = 1.00, vs. neutral point [i.e., 4], t(51) = 7.35, p < .001; M_incongruent = 4.69, SD_incongruent = 1.11, vs. neutral point [i.e., 4]), t(51) = 4.49, p < .001), and the perception did not differ between conditions (t(102) = 1.58, p = .12).

Target evaluations

As expected, participants in the congruent condition indicated more favorable attitudes toward the advertised brand than participants in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 4.90, SD = 0.76 vs. M_incongruent = 4.52, SD = 0.77; F(1, 102) = 6.51, p = .01, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.06). In addition, participants in the congruent condition (relative to participants in the incongruent condition) perceived the brand to be more luxurious (M_congruent = 4.91, SD = 0.86 vs. M_incongruent = 4.40, SD = 0.99; F(1, 102) = 7.88, p = .006, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.07) and more authentic (M_congruent = 5.38, SD = 1.14 vs. M_incongruent = 4.79, SD = 0.91; F(1, 102) = 8.65, p = .004, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.08), but not more unique (M_congruent = 4.75, SD = 1.19 vs. M_incongruent = 4.60, SD = 1.09; F(1, 102) = 0.48, p = .49) or more exclusive (M_congruent = 4.63, SD = 1.24 vs. M_incongruent = 4.58, SD = 1.05; F(1, 102) = 0.07, p = .80).

Mediation analysis

We conducted a serial mediation analysis using Hayes’ PROCESS Model 6 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples (Hayes, 2017). Specifically, we examined the indirect effect of brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) on brand attitudes via perceptions of authenticity and luxuriousness (i.e., brand-artwork CO → authenticity → luxuriousness → attitude). The analysis revealed a significant serial mediation index (B = .08, SE = 0.04, 95% CI: = 0.02 to 0.18; see Table 1 for the full mediation results) in support of Hypotheses 1a, 1b, and 2.

Table 1. Full Mediation Results (Study 1)

Antecedent	Consequent
	Authenticity (M1)				Luxuriousness (M2)				Brand Attitude (Y)
	Coeff	SE	t	p	Coeff	SE	t	p	Coeff	SE	t	p
Constant	4.79	0.14	33.41	<.001	2.42	0.40	6.12	<.001	2.86	0.40	7.25	<.001
Congruence (X)	0.60	0.20	2.94	.004	0.26	0.17	1.56	.12	0.19	0.15	1.31	.19
Authenticity (M1)	—	—	—	—	0.42	0.08	5.25	<.001	0.05	0.08	0.69	.49
Luxuriousness (M2)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.32	0.09	3.76	<.001
Model Summary	R² = .08, F(1, 102) = 8.65, p = .004				R² = .27, F(2, 101) = 18.74, p < .001				R² = .23, F(3, 100) = 9.81, p < .001

Following prior research (Bellezza, Paharia, & Keinan, 2017), to estimate the necessity of our hypothesized serial mediation model (i.e., brand-artwork CO → authenticity → luxuriousness → attitude), we computed the R² change from a simpler model with only the first mediator. Results showed a significant improvement in the amount of explained variance when both mediators were included in the model (from R² = .34 to R² = .48, F_change (1, 100) = 14.16, p < .001). We also repeated the mediation analysis with (1) the proposed mediators reversed (i.e., luxuriousness first and authenticity second) and (2) the proposed mediators in parallel (see Appendix C1 for the full mediation results). The reverse serial mediation model had a nonsignificant indirect effect (B = .01, SE = 0.03, 95% CI: = −0.04 to .09), and the parallel mediation model revealed a significant indirect effect via luxuriousness (B = .16, SE = 0.08, 95% CI: = 0.04 to 0.34) but not via authenticity (B = .03, SE = 0.07, 95% CI: = −0.07 to .21). Taken together, these results provide support for Hypotheses 1a, 1b, and 2 and offer empirical support for the proposed serial mediation model (i.e., brand-artwork CO → authenticity → luxuriousness → attitude).

Discussion

The results of Study 1 provide initial evidence that brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) leads to more favorable brand attitudes via perceived authenticity and perceived luxuriousness. Notably, brand-artwork CO congruence had no effect on other luxury value perceptions (specifically, uniqueness and exclusivity). These findings attest to a specific mechanism underlying how brand-artwork CO congruence moderates the art infusion effect.

Study 2

Study 2 replicates and extends the results of Study 1 in four ways. First, the advertised product in Study 1 was a local brand, so the results could be confounded by participant-artwork CO congruence rather than the hypothesized brand-artwork CO congruence. Study 2 addresses this alternative explanation by using a foreign brand. Second, we include a control (no-art) condition to determine whether incongruence merely weakens or completely negates the art infusion effect. Third, we use a different product category (home appliances) as our advertising context because previous research suggests that product characteristics may influence the art infusion effect (Huettl & Gierl, 2012). Fourth, we test our predictions with participants from another country and using a different set of artworks.

Method

Participants and design

One hundred twenty-one undergraduate students (51% females, M_age = 23.55, SD = 4.95) from a large public university in Europe participated in this lab experiment. This study employed a one-factor, three-level (brand-artwork CO: congruent, incongruent, control [no art]) between-subjects design.

Procedure

Study 2 followed the general procedure of Study 1 with different details. The advertisements were for CUCKOO, a South Korean home appliances brand, and the background image was Obongdo by Kwon Jeong-Soon (congruent condition), Starry Night by Van Gogh (incongruent condition), or a photograph of the night sky (control condition). Participants completed the same manipulation check and measures of brand luxuriousness (r = .75, p < .001) and brand attitude (α = .92) as in Study 1. We measured perceived authenticity with a different measure: three items (“authentic,” “timeless,” and “a brand with history;” α = .75) measured on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree), adapted from Morhart, Malär, Guèvremont, Girardin, and Grohmann (2015). Participants also indicated their familiarity with the advertised brand (1 = not at all, 7 = very familiar). In the congruent and incongruent conditions, we asked participants to indicate the perceived country-of-origin of the artwork featured within the advertisement (open-ended response). Finally, participants indicated their age and gender and were debriefed.

Results

Manipulation checks

First, we investigated whether the background images were indeed perceived more strongly as art in the congruent and incongruent conditions than in the control condition. A one-way ANOVA (F(2, 118) = 10.18, p < .001, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.15) confirmed that, compared to the photograph used in the control condition (M_control = 3.65, SD = 1.78), the background images used in the congruent (M_congruent = 5.56, SD = 1.60; t(118) = 4.40, p < .001) and incongruent conditions (M_incongruent = 5.00, SD = 2.41; t(118) = 3.09, p = .003) elicited higher perceptions of art and did not differ significantly from each other (t(118) = 1.29, p = .20).

Second, we investigated whether the artwork COs were perceived as intended. We coded each open-ended response as 0 for European origins, 1 for Asian origins, and 2 for everything else. A chi-square test (x²(2) = 30.42, p < .001) confirmed that participants in the congruent condition were more likely to perceive Asian origins (32/41 = 78%) than European origins (5/41 = 12%), whereas participants in the incongruent condition were more likely to perceive European origins (28/40 = 70%) than Asian origins (8/40 = 20%).

Target evaluations

A one-way ANOVA on brand attitudes yielded a significant effect of the condition (F(2, 118) = 4.63, p = .01, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.07). As we expected, planned contrasts (that used the estimates of variance from all three conditions) revealed that participants in the congruent condition had more favorable attitudes toward the advertised brand than both participants in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 4.70, SD = 1.27 vs. M_incongruent = 3.81, SD = 1.63; t(118) = 2.93, p = .004) and participants in the control condition (M_control = 4.04, SD = 1.12; t(118) = 2.16, p = .03). There was no significant difference between the control and incongruent conditions (t(118) = 0.76, p = .45).

We repeated the analysis with brand familiarity as a covariate, and our results did not change (F(2, 117) = 5.34, p = .006, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.08): Participants in the congruent condition still had more favorable attitudes toward the advertised brand than both participants in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 4.71 vs. M_incongruent = 3.84; t = 3.07, p = .003) and participants in the control condition (M_control = 4.00; t = 2.48, p = .02), with no significant difference between the latter two (t = 0.59, p = .56).

We observed the same pattern for brand luxuriousness (F(2, 118) = 4.37, p = .02, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.07) and authenticity (F(2, 118) = 5.49, p = .005, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.09). Participants in the congruent condition perceived the brand to be more luxurious than both those in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 4.20, SD = 1.25 vs. M_incongruent = 3.36, SD = 1.51; t(118) = 2.80, p = .006) and those in the control condition (M_control = 3.54, SD = 1.24; t(118) = 2.21, p = .03), with no significant difference between the latter two (t(118) = 0.58, p = .56). Participants in the congruent condition perceived the brand to be more authentic than both those in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 4.43, SD = 0.94 vs. M_incongruent = 3.55, SD = 1.36; t(118) = 3.20, p = .002) and those in the control condition (M_control = 3.79, SD = 1.37; t(118) = 2.32, p = .02), with no significant difference between the latter two (t(118) = 0.87, p = .38).

Mediation analysis

We conducted two pairwise serial mediation analyses using Hayes’ PROCESS Model 6 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples (Hayes, 2017; Hayes & Preacher, 2014). Specifically, we examined the indirect effect of brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence, vs. control) on brand attitudes via perceptions of authenticity and luxuriousness (i.e., brand-artwork CO → authenticity → luxuriousness → attitude). The analysis revealed a significant serial mediation index in both comparisons (congruent vs. incongruent: B = .24, SE = 0.10, 95% CI: = 0.07 to 0.45; congruent vs. control: B = .17, SE = 0.09, 95% CI: = 0.03 to 0.36; see Table 2 for the full mediation results).

Table 2. Full Mediation Results (Study 2)

Antecedent	Consequent
	Authenticity (M1)				Luxuriousness (M2)				Brand Attitude (Y)
	Coeff	SE	t	p	Coeff	SE	t	p	Coeff	SE	t	p
Congruent vs. Incongruent
Constant	3.55	0.20	18.14	<.001	1.10	0.33	3.28	.001	1.77	0.37	4.74	<.001
Congruence (X)	0.88	0.28	3.20	.002	0.27	0.25	1.07	.29	0.38	0.27	1.39	.17
Control (Dummy)	0.24	0.28	0.87	.38	0.02	0.24	0.09	.93	0.12	0.26	0.44	.66
Authenticity (M1)	—	—	—	—	0.64	0.08	7.90	<.001	0.19	0.11	1.66	.10
Luxuriousness (M2)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.42	0.10	4.26	<.001
Congruent vs. Control
Constant	3.79	0.20	19.38	<.001	1.12	0.35	3.18	.002	1.88	0.39	4.82	<.001
Congruence (X)	0.64	0.28	2.32	.02	0.25	0.25	1.01	.31	0.26	0.27	0.99	.33
Incongruent (Dummy)	−0.24	0.28	−0.87	.38	−0.02	0.24	−0.09	.93	−0.12	0.26	−0.44	.66
Authenticity (M1)	—	—	—	—	0.64	0.08	7.90	<.001	0.18	0.11	1.66	.10
Luxuriousness (M2)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.42	0.10	4.26	<.001
Model Summary	R² =.09, F(2, 118) = 5.49, p = .005				R² =.39, F(3, 117) = 25.25, p < .001				R² = .33, F(4, 116) = 14.35, p < .001

As in Study 1, we examined the R² change from a simpler model with only the first mediator. Results revealed a significant improvement in the amount of explained variance when both mediators were included in the model (from R² = .47 to R² = .58, F_change (1, 117) = 18.45, p < .001). We also repeated the mediation analysis with (1) the proposed mediators reversed and (2) the proposed mediators in parallel (see Appendix C2 for the full mediation results). The analysis revealed nonsignificant indirect effects in both comparisons (congruent vs. incongruent: B = .08, SE = 0.07, 95% CI: = −0.01 to 0.25; congruent vs. control: B = .06, SE = 0.05, 95% CI: = −0.01 to 0.20). Parallel mediation analyses showed significant indirect effects via luxuriousness (congruent vs. incongruent: B = .35, SE = 0.15, 95% CI: = 0.09 to 0.65; congruent vs. control: B = .28, SE = 0.14, 95% CI: = 0.04 to 0.57) but not via authenticity (congruent vs. incongruent: B = .16, SE = 0.11, 95% CI: = −0.01 to 0.41; congruent vs. control: B = .11, SE = 0.09, 95% CI: = −0.01 to 0.331).

Follow-Up Experiment

Consistent with Study 1, the results of Study 2 provide converging evidence for the proposed conceptual model (i.e., brand-artwork CO → authenticity → luxuriousness → attitude). However, we note four methodological limitations. First, we employed real brands and two different artworks that represented the brand-artwork CO congruent versus incongruent conditions. Second, it is desirable to corroborate the obtained results by measuring the focal dependent variable (brand attitude) prior to the mediators (luxuriousness and authenticity). Third, participants’ CO in Study 2 matched the artwork’s CO in the incongruent condition, and cultural mixing that involves one’s own culture may lead to exceptionally negative evaluations (Cheon et al., 2016).

In the follow-up experiment, 180 Amazon MTurk participants located in the US (43% females, M_age = 37.98, SD = 10.50) followed a procedure that matched Study 2 with four exceptions, corresponding to the three limitations noted above: The follow-up study (a) used a fictitious brand, (b) used the same artwork in the congruent and incongruent conditions and manipulated only the description and artist’s name, (c) measured the focal dependent variable prior to the proposed mediators, and (d) employed participants from the US, which is not the CO in any of the conditions. We also measured processing fluency (Graf et al., 2018) because previous research suggests that the metacognitive experience of (dis)fluency may drive the effect of cultural congruence (vs. incongruence) on consumer evaluations (Ko, Seo, & Jung, 2015; Torelli & Ahluwalia, 2012).

The results were consistent with the main study findings. That is, participants in the congruent condition showed more favorable brand attitudes than both those in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 5.70, SD = 1.05 vs. M_incongruent = 4.95, SD = 1.45; t(177) = 3.06, p = .003) and those in the control condition (M_control = 5.06, SD = 1.53; t(177) = 2.61, p = .01), with no significant difference between the latter two (t(177) = 0.44, p = .66).

As expected, participants in the congruent condition perceived the brand to be more luxurious than both those in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 5.25, SD = 1.24 vs. M_incongruent = 4.56, SD = 1.45; t(177) = 2.68, p = .008) and those in the control condition (M_control = 4.64, SD = 1.58; t(177) = 2.34, p = .02), with no significant difference between the latter two (t(177) = 0.33, p = .74). Similarly, participants in the congruent condition perceived the brand to be more authentic than both those in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 5.25, SD = 1.08 vs. M_incongruent = 4.71, SD = 1.36; t(177) = 2.39, p = .02) and those in the control condition (M_control = 4.64, SD = 1.32; t(177) = 2.65, p = .009), with no significant difference between the latter two (t(177) = 0.27, p = .79).

Two separate serial mediation analyses (i.e., brand-artwork CO → authenticity → luxuriousness → attitude) yielded a significant serial mediation index for both comparisons (congruent vs. incongruent: B = .10, SE = 0.05, 95% CI: = 0.02 to 0.20; congruent vs. control: B = .11, SE = 0.05, 95% CI: = 0.03 to 0.22). Finally, we did not find any significant differences in processing fluency across the experimental conditions (M_congruent = 2.92, SD = 1.54 vs. M_incongruent = 2.90, SD = 1.63 vs. M_control = 2.97, SD = 1.64; F(2, 177) = 0.03, p = .97). Therefore, processing fluency does not seem to offer a viable alternative explanation for our results. Full details of this follow-up experiment are provided in Appendix D.

Discussion

Study 2 extends the results of Study 1 by showing that brand-artwork CO congruence increases advertising effectiveness (i.e., by facilitating the art infusion effect) when promoting a foreign brand. In addition, we provide evidence that the art infusion effect is completely negated, rather than merely weakened, in the case of brand-artwork CO incongruence. That is, the presence of incongruent artwork did not boost perceived luxuriousness and brand attitudes any more than the presence of an image that was not perceived as “art.” These results were also replicated in the follow-up experiment.

Study 3

Study 3 uses the “moderation-of-process” approach (Spencer et al., 2005) to offer causal evidence for the mechanism of perceived authenticity underlying the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence. If perceived authenticity underlies the effect, as we predict in Hypothesis H2, then manipulating a priori perception of authenticity should show a boundary condition. That is, the difference in outcomes between the congruent and incongruent conditions should disappear if participants’ perceptions of brand authenticity are heightened prior to viewing the advertisement.

Method

Participants and design

Three hundred twenty-six participants located in the US (53% females, M_age = 37.69, SD = 12.10) were recruited from Amazon MTurk and randomly assigned within a 2 (brand-artwork CO: congruent, incongruent) × 2 (authenticity: heightened, non-heightened [control]) between-subjects design.

Procedure

Study 3 employed similar procedures as Study 1 with one important exception: Participants read a short description of the advertised brand prior to viewing the advertisement. In the heightened-authenticity condition, participants read, “At Sulwhasoo, we are inspired by the past, and devoted to maintaining the authentic rituals of skincare, so you feel beautiful at every step of the process. Each product is inspired by the history and tradition, and stays true to the ancient techniques that were passed down for generations.” Meanwhile, the control condition emphasized personal uniqueness instead of authenticity: “At Sulwhasoo, we strive for constant improvement to bring you the most effective solutions for skincare designed especially for you, so you feel beautiful at every step of the process.” In a separate between-subjects pretest (N = 146 MTurk participants), we confirmed that participants who read the heightened-authenticity description perceived the brand as more authentic than participants who read the control description (using the same measures of authenticity as in Study 2: α = .79; M_heightened = 5.53, SD = 1.05, M_{non-heightened} = 5.12, SD = 1.16; t(144) = 2.25, p = .03).

In the main study, participants viewed the advertisements from Study 1 (congruent: Minhwa; incongruent: Sunflowers). Participants completed the same manipulation check and measures of brand luxuriousness (r = .65, p < .001) and brand attitude (α = .93) from previous studies. As in Study 2, participants indicated their familiarity with the advertised brand and the perceived country-of-origin of the featured artwork (open-ended response). Finally, participants indicated their age and gender and were debriefed.

Results

Manipulation checks

First, we investigated whether the image within each advertisement was perceived as art, as intended. The image in each condition was indeed perceived as “art” (M_congruent = 5.92, SD_congruent = 1.15, vs. neutral point [i.e., 4], t(166) = 21.47, p < .001; M_incongruent = 6.13, SD_incongruent = 1.21, vs. neutral point [i.e., 4], t(158) = 22.27, p < .001), and the perceptions did not differ significantly between the two conditions (t(324) = 1.65, p = .10).

Second, we investigated whether the artwork COs were perceived as intended. We coded each open-ended response as 0 for European origins, 1 for Asian origins, and 2 for everything else. A chi-square test (x²(2) = 135.52, p < .001) confirmed that participants in the congruent condition were more likely to perceive Asian origins (135/167 = 81%) than European origins (19/167 = 11%), whereas participants in the incongruent condition were more likely to perceive European origins (115/159 = 72%) than Asian origins (30/159 = 19%).

Target evaluations

Participants’ brand attitudes were analyzed as a function of the brand-artwork CO conditions (congruent vs. incongruent) and authenticity (heightened vs. non-heightened [control]). A two-way ANOVA on brand attitudes yielded a significant main effect of the brand-artwork CO condition (F(1, 322) = 5.42, p = .02, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.02) and a nonsignificant main effect of authenticity (F(1, 322) = 0.16, p = .69). More importantly, these main effects were qualified by the expected interaction effect (F(1, 322) = 4.82, p = .03, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.02; see Figure 1). Planned contrasts revealed that within the non-heightened-authenticity condition, participants in the congruent condition had more favorable attitudes toward the advertised brand than those in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 5.89, SD = 1.01 vs. M_incongruent = 5.31, SD = 1.26; F(1, 322) = 10.49, p < .001, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.03). Within the heightened-authenticity condition, however, the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence disappeared (M_congruent = 5.66, SD = 1.12 vs. M_incongruent = 5.64, SD = 1.24; F(1, 322) = 0.01, p = .93). From another perspective, heightening brand authenticity had a marginally significant effect in the incongruent condition (M_{non-heightened} = 5.31, SD = 1.26 vs. M_heightened = 5.64, SD = 1.24; F(1, 322) = 3.28, p = .07, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.01) but had no effect in the congruent condition (M_{non-heightened} = 5.89, SD = 1.01 vs. M_heightened = 5.66, SD = 1.12; F(1, 322) = 1.66, p = .20).

Details are in the caption following the image — **Figure 1**
Open in figure viewer PowerPoint

Brand Attitude by Brand-Artwork CO Congruence and Authenticity (Study 3).

We repeated the analyses with brand familiarity as a covariate, and our results were qualitatively similar. Although the interaction effect became marginal (F(1, 321) = 3.47, p = .06, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.01), planned contrasts confirmed the results of the main model: Within the non-heightened-authenticity condition, participants in the congruent condition had more favorable attitudes toward the advertised brand than those in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 5.87 vs. M_incongruent = 5.36; F(1, 321) = 8.25, p = .004, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.03); the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence disappeared within the heightened-authenticity condition (M_congruent = 5.65 vs. M_incongruent = 5.61; F(1, 321) = 0.04, p = .83).

We observed the same patterns in the data for brand luxuriousness. A two-way ANOVA yielded a significant interaction effect (F(1, 322) = 4.56, p = .03, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.01). Planned contrasts revealed that within the non-heightened-authenticity condition, participants in the congruent condition perceived the advertised brand to be more luxurious than those in the incongruent condition (M_congruent = 5.41, SD = 1.01 vs. M_incongruent = 4.86, SD = 1.21; F(1, 322) = 10.13, p = .002, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.03), but the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence disappeared within the heightened-authenticity condition (M_congruent = 5.28, SD = 0.97 vs. M_incongruent = 5.26, SD = 1.27; F(1, 322) = 0.02, p = .90). From another perspective, heightening brand authenticity increased perceived luxuriousness in the incongruent condition (M_{non-heightened} = 4.86, SD = 1.21 vs. M_heightened = 5.26, SD = 1.27; F(1, 322) = 5.16, p = .02, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.02), but it had no effect in the congruent condition (M_{non-heightened} = 5.41, SD = 1.01 vs. M_heightened = 5.28, SD = 0.97; F(1, 322) = 0.54, p = .47).

Mediation analysis

We conducted a moderated mediation analysis using Hayes’ PROCESS Model 8 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples (Hayes, 2017) to test the indirect effect of brand-artwork CO congruence on brand attitudes via perceived luxuriousness, moderated by the authenticity condition. Results revealed that the indirect effect of brand-artwork CO congruence was significant in the non-heightened-authenticity condition (B = .20, SE = 0.06, 95% CI: = 0.08 to 0.32) but not in the heightened-authenticity condition (B = .01, SE = 0.07, 95% CI: = −0.12 to 0.14). The index of moderated mediation was significant (B = −.19, SE = 0.09, 95% CI: = −0.36 to −0.02; see Table 3 for the full mediation results).

Table 3. Full Mediation Results (Study 3)

Antecedent	Consequent
	Luxuriousness (M)				Brand Attitude (Y)
	Coeff	SE	t	p	Coeff	SE	t	p
Constant	5.20	0.06	83.86	<.001	1.86	0.22	8.45	<.001
Congruency (X)	0.14	0.06	2.31	.02	0.05	0.05	0.99	.32
Authenticity (W)	0.07	0.06	1.11	.27	0.03	0.05	0.53	.60
Congruence × Authenticity	0.13	0.06	−2.14	.03	0.05	0.05	0.98	.33
Luxuriousness (M)	—	—	—	—	0.72	0.04	17.43	<.001
Model Summary	R² = 0.03, F(3, 322) = 3.73, p = .01				R² = 0.50, F(4, 321) = 81.11, p < .001

Follow-Up Experiment

The results of Study 3 show that heightening a priori perception of brand authenticity attenuates the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence). We posit that this is because, when consumers have other reasons to believe that the advertised brand is authentic, the art infusion effect is restored in the case of brand-artwork CO incongruence. To offer direct evidence for the role of authenticity in the attenuation of the art infusion effect by cultural incongruence, we conducted a follow-up experiment with 321 Amazon MTurkers located in the US (40% females, M_age = 38.30, SD = 11.40). The design and procedures of this experiment were identical to the main study with three exceptions. First, we replaced the advertised brand with a fictitious brand, as in the follow-up to Study 2. Second, we measured the dependent variable (brand attitude) before the mediator (luxuriousness). Third, and most importantly, we replaced the congruent condition with a control (no-art) condition that featured a photograph of flowers instead of a painting. Thus, our follow-up experiment employed a 2 (brand-artwork CO: incongruent, control [no art]) × 2 (authenticity: heightened, non-heightened [control]) between-subjects design.

The results were consisted with our expectations. A two-way ANOVA on brand attitudes yielded a significant interaction effect (F(1, 317) = 4.06, p = .05, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.01). Planned contrasts revealed that within the non-heightened-authenticity condition, participants in the incongruent condition and those in the control (no-art) condition had similar brand attitudes (M_incongruent = 5.49, SD = 1.17 vs. M_control = 5.56, SD = 1.17; F(1, 317) = 0.16, p = .69). In the heightened-authenticity condition, however, participants in the incongruent condition had more favorable brand attitudes than those in the control condition (M_incongruent = 5.87, SD = 1.08 vs. M_control = 5.42, SD = 1.10; F(1, 317) = 5.88, p = .02, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.02).

We observed the same pattern for brand luxuriousness (F(1, 317) = 4.42, p = .04, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.01). Within the non-heightened-authenticity condition, participants in the incongruent condition and those in the control condition had similar perceptions of luxuriousness (M_incongruent = 4.92, SD = 1.32 vs. M_control = 5.03, SD = 1.29; F(1, 317) = 0.34, p = .56). In the heightened-authenticity condition, however, participants in the incongruent condition perceived the brand to be more luxurious than those in the control condition (M_incongruent = 5.52, SD = 1.11 vs. M_control = 5.03, SD = 1.39; F(1, 317) = 5.60, p = .02, $η_{p}^{2}$ = 0.02).

As expected, a moderated mediation analysis showed that the indirect effect of brand-artwork CO incongruence (vs. control) was not significant in the non-heightened-authenticity condition (B = −.03, SE = 0.06, 95% CI: = −0.15 to 0.08) but was significant in the heightened-authenticity condition (B = .14, SE = 0.06, 95% CI: = 0.03 to 0.25). The index of moderated mediation was significant (B = .17, SE = 0.08, 95% CI: = 0.01 to 0.33). These results support the conclusion of Study 3: That heightening consumers’ perception of brand authenticity can restore the art infusion effect in the case of brand-artwork CO incongruence. A full description of this follow-up experiment is provided in Appendix E.

Discussion

Study 3 offers causal evidence for the underlying mechanism by directly manipulating the proposed mediator (Spencer et al., 2005). Consistent with our predictions, heightening consumers’ a priori perception of the brand’s authenticity attenuates the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) on the favorability of brand attitudes. Notably, the follow-up experiment further reveals that, in the case of brand-artwork CO incongruence, heightening brand authenticity restores the art infusion effect. This suggests that the art infusion effect may still occur when the artwork’s CO is incongruent with the brand’s CO as long as consumers have other reasons to believe that the brand is authentic.

Study 4

Study 4 strengthens the results of previous studies with an experiment that involved a consequential consumer decision (Inman et al., 2018).

Method

Participants and design

We collaborated with a not-for-profit organization in Indonesia and gained permission to send a direct marketing message with an online survey link via email to the organization’s database of 20,225 customers. Two hundred sixty consumers (54% females, M_age = 30.76, SD = 5.11) opted to participate and were randomly assigned within a one-factor, two-level (brand-artwork CO: congruent, incongruent) between-subjects design.

Procedure

The recruitment email explained that the organization was attempting to boost customer engagement efforts, and all customers were invited to participate in a prize draw. Those who wished to participate were instructed to click on a link, at which point they became participants and were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions. Participants were presented with the same stimuli as in Study 2 (congruent condition: a CUCKOO rice cooker with Obongdo as the background image; incongruent condition: the same product with Starry Night as the background image). Participants were told that they could choose to enter one of two sweepstakes: (a) for the advertised CUCKOO rice cooker (valued at $500), or (b) for an online OVO gift card of $400. The gift card was offered at a lower value than the market value of the advertised product because gift cards are more liquid than products and, therefore, convey higher subjective utility. Following this choice, participants provided their age, gender, and contact details.

Results

Target evaluation

We coded participants’ choice (1 = advertised rice cooker; 0 = gift card) and conducted a chi-square test. As we expected, participants in the congruent condition were more likely to choose the advertised product (34/129 = 26%) than participants in the incongruent condition (14/131 = 11%; x²(1) = 10.6, p = .001).

Discussion

Study 4 strengthens the external validity of previous studies by showing that brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) significantly affects consequential choices made by real consumers.

General Discussion

Visual artworks are of substantial interest in the consumer behavior literature as a distinct category of consumption experiences (Joy & Sherry, 2003) and as a strategic marketing tool that can enhance a brand’s image (Hagtvedt & Patrick, 2008a). The dimension of culture, however, has received little attention in the context of such marketing effects even though there is a well-known intrinsic relationship between art and culture (Hoffman, 2003; Joy & Sherry, 2003). The present research takes a step toward incorporating a cultural perspective into the use of art in marketing. By shedding light on how cultural congruence (vs. incongruence) qualifies the art infusion effect, we offer several theoretical contributions and practical implications.

Theoretical Contributions

We note five main theoretical contributions. First, although the art infusion effect has been well documented in previous studies (Cuny et al., 2020; Huettl & Gierl, 2012; Lee et al., 2015; Logkizidou et al., 2019), the moderating factors and boundary conditions are less well understood. We identify cultural congruence as a moderator and document an underlying mechanism. Specifically, we show that brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) consistently leads consumers to perceive the advertised brand as more luxurious, which leads to more favorable brand attitudes. The effect of cultural congruence on perceived luxuriousness is mediated by perceived authenticity. Notably, by including a “no-art” control condition, we determined that the effect of cultural congruence is attributable to the attenuation of the art infusion effect in the setting of brand-artwork CO incongruence (Study 2 and follow-up). However, even an incongruent artwork can have a positive effect on consumer evaluations—that is, the art infusion effect can be “restored”—if consumers are given other reasons to believe that the advertised brand is authentic (Study 3 and follow-up). Overall, these results show that cultural congruence and subsequent perception of authenticity are critical components of the art infusion effect.

Second, we extend previous research on CO effects (Hong & Kang, 2006; Li & Wyer, 1994) by illustrating two distinct properties in the context of artworks and the art infusion effect. For one, CO characteristics influence a specific aspect of consumer evaluations within the art infusion effect—namely, perceptions of the brand’s authenticity. Study 1 showed that brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) increased perceived authenticity without affecting other perceptions (uniqueness and exclusivity) that are closely associated with luxuriousness. In Study 3, we offer more direct evidence for the distinct effect of brand-artwork CO congruence via authenticity by demonstrating that the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence (vs. incongruence) disappears when perceived authenticity is heightened a priori. For another, we find that the congruence-based CO effect prevails over the stereotype-based CO effect. Although the brand’s CO was less stereotypically luxurious than the incongruent artwork’s CO in all our studies, we consistently found that the congruent artwork (with the less luxurious CO) elicited more positive evaluations.

Third, our findings contribute to the literature on cultural mixing (Chiu et al., 2009; Hao et al., 2016; Torelli & Ahluwalia, 2012) by identifying a distinct category of consumption experiences in which cultural incongruence does not produce a negative effect (relative to a control without cultural cues). Specifically, previous research shows that cultural incongruence elicits less positive evaluations than both cultural congruence (Ko et al., 2015; Torelli & Ahluwalia, 2012) and the absence of cultural cues, and the mechanism involves a decrease in processing fluency (Torelli & Ahluwalia, 2012). In the case of art infusion, however, we show that brand-artwork CO incongruence elicits less positive evaluations than brand-artwork CO congruence but does not perform worse than a no-art control (Study 2 and Study 3 Follow-Up), nor does it decrease processing fluency (Study 2 Follow-Up). One explanation for this deviation from other cultural mixing findings is that artworks represent a distinct form of experience (Joy & Sherry, 2003) that “unlike other sensory stimuli, …have general connotations that are positive per se” (Hagtvedt & Patrick, 2008a, p. 381). Thus, while brand-artwork CO incongruence undermines the advertised brand’s authenticity and thus impedes the art infusion effect, such incongruent artwork falls short of producing a negative effect.

Fourth, our research extends recent discussions regarding which psychological mechanisms transfer cultural meanings to brands (originally theorized in McCracken, 1989; see in Batra, 2019; Fournier & Alvarez, 2019; MacInnis, Torelli, & Park, 2019). So far, these discussions have largely focused on the content of cultural schemas (e.g., metaphors, myths, rituals, ideologies) that allow consumers to interpret brand meanings (e.g., The Hero’s Myth offers a cultural schema to interpret Nike as the “winner” brand; Fournier & Alvarez, 2019). The present research draws attention to the congruence of cultural schema(s) as another important aspect of the cultural transfer-of-meaning process (McCracken, 1989). Specifically, the results of our studies show that while artworks may generally elicit cultural schemas of luxuriousness and sophistication (Hoffman, 2003), the spillover of such schemas onto associated brands depends on the congruence between the brand and the culturally relevant information.

Fifth, the effect of cultural congruence in our study is mediated by perceived brand authenticity (Magnusson et al., 2019) which, in itself, is an important and underexplored aspect of cultural brand meanings (MacInnis et al., 2019). Thus, our study contributes to this area by showing that perceived authenticity also depends on congruence. That is, consumers derive their perception of authenticity from both the meaning (i.e., content) of available cultural cues (Grayson & Martinec, 2004) and whether the cues “fit together.” In short, we illustrate that (cultural) congruence represents an important source of the meanings that consumers ascribe to brands.

Practical Implications

From a managerial perspective, our findings are particularly useful for brands that lack the heritage of most luxury brands (Guèvremont, 2018) or that do not originate from a stereotypically luxurious CO (Cayla & Arnould, 2008). As we discussed earlier, it might be obvious that European brands should incorporate European artworks to maximize the art infusion effect; after all, Europe is stereotypically luxurious (BCG-Altagamma, 2019; McNeil & Riello, 2016). Considering Europe as the epitome of luxury, however, may entice non-European brands to feature European artworks in the hopes of enhancing the brand’s perceived luxuriousness (e.g., Samsung’s “Art Heist” campaign). Yet, we show in the present research that the cultural incongruence of such a pairing may compromise consumers’ perceptions of brand authenticity and thus not produce the desired effect. Therefore, it would be beneficial for brands to consider using culturally congruent artworks, even if such artworks, by themselves, may convey a less luxurious stereotype.

On the other hand, in Study 3 (and its follow-up), we show that if consumers have other reasons to believe that the advertised brand is authentic, then the art infusion effect can occur even in the setting of brand-artwork CO incongruence. This implies that brands with a preestablished image of authenticity in the marketplace may have more discretion to use culturally incongruent artworks in their marketing campaigns. From another perspective, if brands opt to feature culturally incongruent artworks in their campaigns, then they might benefit from taking other steps to reinforce the brand’s authenticity in the context of the campaign.

Limitations and Future Research

The present research has several limitations that offer opportunities for future research at the intersection of cultural considerations and the art infusion effect. First, we operationalized cultural “congruence” as a direct match between the artwork’s and brand’s CO, but future studies could explore whether the boundaries of cultural congruence can be “stretched.” Prior research shows that cultural symbolism has situationally malleable boundaries (Torelli, Ahluwalia, Cheng, Olson, & Stoner, 2017). Therefore, it would be of interest to consider whether a brand-artwork pairing from neighboring countries is perceived as relatively culturally congruent or incongruent, and to identify situational factors that may determine such perceptions (e.g., cultural rivalry, distinctiveness).

Second, because we aimed to tease apart the congruence-based and stereotype-based CO effects within the context of the art infusion effect, our empirical settings used South Korea as a brand CO that is positive but not stereotypically luxurious. Future research could corroborate our findings with a stereotypically luxurious brand CO (e.g., a European country), in which case it would be interesting to explore whether cultural incongruence may have a negative effect rather than a null effect (relative to a no-art control), potentially due to perceptions of cultural appropriation (Young, 2010). In the same vein, it would be interesting to test the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence when consumers hold negative perceptions about the artwork’s CO and/or the brand’s CO. In short, the stereotype-based CO effect may certainly play a role in art infusion, and several dimensions are worth exploring.

Third, future studies can explore other aspects of cultural mixing (Hao et al., 2016) in the art infusion effect. For instance, Cheon et al. (2016) show that the negative evaluations associated with cultural mixing tend to be stronger when cultural cues are blended or fused (e.g., Chinese dumplings on a hamburger) as opposed to being presented simultaneously as separate entities (e.g., Chinese dumplings with a hamburger). Although we did not find evidence that brand-artwork CO incongruence elicits negative attitudes (relative to the no-art control), future research could explore whether the ways in which products are “infused” with artworks may qualify this effect. For instance, would consumers develop more negative brand attitudes if a culturally incongruent artwork is engraved directly on the product (vs. presented as a background image in an advertisement) due to a heightened perception of cultural contamination (Cheon et al., 2016)?

Fourth, future research could explore the boundary conditions of the effect of cultural congruence on perceived authenticity. The international marketing literature posits that global brands draw their symbolism from the cultural schema of global consumer culture (Alden, Steenkamp, & Batra, 1999). For global brands, might the use of culturally incongruent (vs. congruent) artworks increase (rather than decrease) perceived authenticity by heightening consumers’ perceptions of cosmopolitanism (Cleveland, Laroche, & Papadopoulos, 2009), an important cultural schema of global consumer culture?

Fifth and finally, most studies on the art infusion effect and on luxury brands, more broadly, report on a positive relationship between brand luxuriousness and product evaluations. Indeed, luxury brands are attractive for a broad range of symbolic benefits, such as self-gratification, indulgence (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008; Kapferer & Bastien, 2012), and even empowerment (Rucker & Galinsky, 2008). However, recent findings show that the consumption of luxury brands may also have negative consequences. In particular, Goor, Ordabayeva, Keinan, and Crener (2020) find that consumers with low levels of psychological entitlement may feel that luxury brands are an undue privilege, so the consumption of such brands instills a feeling of being an imposter. Future research could explore whether and how such negative consequences of luxury consumption are related to the art infusion effect. That is, it would be interesting to consider the circumstances in which a heightened perception of brand luxuriousness, arising from the art infusion effect, may fail to translate into more positive product evaluations.

Supporting Information

References

Alden, D. L., Steenkamp, J.-B.-E., & Batra, R. (1999). Brand positioning through advertising in Asia, North America, and Europe: The role of global consumer culture. Journal of Marketing, 63, 75–87.
10.1177/002224299906300106
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Anderson, N. H. (1965). Averaging versus adding as a stimulus-combination rule in impression formation. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 70, 394–400.
10.1037/h0022280
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Balfe, J. H. (1987). Artworks as symbols in international politics. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 1, 5–27.
10.1007/BF01388239
Google Scholar
Batra, R. (2019). Creating brand meaning: A review and research agenda. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 29, 535–546.
10.1002/jcpy.1122
Web of Science®Google Scholar
BCG-Altagamma (2019). 2019 True-Luxury Global Consumer Insight. Retrieved from http://media-publications.bcg.com/france/True-Luxury%20Global%20Consumer%20Insight%202019%20-%20Plenary%20-%20vMedia.pdf

Google Scholar
Bellezza, S., Paharia, N., & Keinan, A. (2017). Conspicuous consumption of time: When busyness and lack of leisure time become a status symbol. Journal of Consumer Research, 44, 118–138.
10.1093/jcr/ucw076
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Beverland, M. B. (2005). Crafting brand authenticity: The case of luxury wines. Journal of Management Studies, 42, 1003–1029.
10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00530.x
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Cayla, J., & Arnould, E. J. (2008). A cultural approach to branding in the global marketplace. Journal of International Marketing, 16, 86–112.
10.1509/jimk.16.4.86
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Cheon, B. K., Christopoulos, G. I., & Hong, Y.-Y. (2016). Disgust associated with culture mixing: Why and who? Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47, 1268–1285.
10.1177/0022022116667845
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Chevalier, M., & Mazzalovo, G. (2008). Luxury brand management: a world of privilege. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons.

Google Scholar
Chiu, C.-Y., Mallorie, L., Keh, H. T., & Law, W. (2009). Perceptions of culture in multicultural space: Joint presentation of images from two cultures increases in-group attribution of culture-typical characteristics. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40, 282–300.
10.1177/0022022108328912
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Cleveland, M., Laroche, M., & Papadopoulos, N. (2009). Cosmopolitanism, consumer ethnocentrism, and materialism: An eight-country study of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of International Marketing, 17, 116–146.
10.1509/jimk.17.1.116
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Cuny, C., Pinelli, M., Fornerino, M., & deMarles, A. (2020). Experiential art infusion effect on a service’s brand: the role of emotions. Journal of Marketing Management, 36(11-12), 1055–1075.
10.1080/0267257X.2020.1755343
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Fiske, S. T., & Neuberg, S. L. (1990). A continuum of impression formation, from category-based to individuating processes: Influences of information and motivation on attention and interpretation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 23, 1–74.
10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60317-2
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (1991). Social cognition. New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill.

Google Scholar
Fournier, S., & Alvarez, C. (2019). How brands acquire cultural meaning. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 29, 519–534.
10.1002/jcpy.1119
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Goor, D., Ordabayeva, N., Keinan, A., & Crener, S. (2020). The impostor syndrome from luxury consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 46, 1031–1051.
10.1093/jcr/ucz044
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Graf, L. K., Mayer, S., & Landwehr, J. R. (2018). Measuring processing fluency: One versus five items. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 28, 393–411.
10.1002/jcpy.1021
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Grayson, K., & Martinec, R. (2004). Consumer perceptions of iconicity and indexicality and their influence on assessments of authentic market offerings. Journal of Consumer Research, 31, 296–312.
10.1086/422109
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Guèvremont, A. (2018). Creating and interpreting brand authenticity: The case of a young brand. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 17, 505–518.
10.1002/cb.1735
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Hagtvedt, H., & Patrick, V. M. (2008a). Art and the brand: The role of visual art in enhancing brand extendibility. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 18, 212–222.
10.1016/j.jcps.2008.04.010
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Hagtvedt, H., & Patrick, V. M. (2008b). Art infusion: The influence of visual art on the perception and evaluation of consumer products. Journal of Marketing Research, 45, 379–389.
10.1509/jmkr.45.3.379
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Hagtvedt, H., & Patrick, V. M. (2011). Turning art into mere illustration: Concretizing art renders its influence context dependent. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 1624–1632.
10.1177/0146167211415631
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Hao, J., Li, D., Peng, L., Peng, S., & Torelli, C. J. (2016). Advancing our understanding of culture mixing. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47, 1257–1267.
10.1177/0022022116670514
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach ( 2nd edn). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Google Scholar
Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J. (2014). Statistical mediation analysis with a multicategorical independent variable. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67, 451–470.
10.1111/bmsp.12028
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Herz, M. F., & Diamantopoulos, A. (2013). Activation of country stereotypes: automaticity, consonance, and impact. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 41, 400–417.
10.1007/s11747-012-0318-1
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Hoffman, B. (2003). The fine art of advertising. New York, NY: Stewart, Tabori & Chang.

Google Scholar
Hong, S. T., & Kang, D. K. (2006). Country-of-origin influences on product evaluations: The impact of animosity and perceptions of industriousness brutality on judgments of typical and atypical products. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 16, 232–239.
10.1207/s15327663jcp1603_5
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Huettl, V., & Gierl, H. (2012). Visual art in advertising: The effects of utilitarian vs. hedonic product positioning and price information. Marketing Letters, 23, 893–904.
10.1007/s11002-012-9196-z
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Inman, J. J., Campbell, M. C., Kirmani, A., & Price, L. L. (2018). Our vision for the Journal of Consumer Research: It’s all about the consumer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Google Scholar
Joy, A., & Sherry, J. F. Jr (2003). Speaking of art as embodied imagination: A multisensory approach to understanding aesthetic experience. Journal of Consumer Research, 30, 259–282.
10.1086/376802
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Joy, A., Wang, J. J., Chan, T.-S., Sherry, J. F. Jr, & Cui, G. (2014). M (Art) worlds: consumer perceptions of how luxury brand stores become art institutions. Journal of Retailing, 90, 347–364.
10.1016/j.jretai.2014.01.002
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Kapferer, J.-N., & Bastien, V. (2012). The luxury strategy: Break the rules of marketing to build luxury brands. London: Kogan Page Publishers.

Google Scholar
Ko, D., Seo, Y., & Jung, S. U. (2015). Examining the effect of cultural congruence, processing fluency, and uncertainty avoidance in online purchase decisions in the US and Korea. Marketing Letters, 26, 377–390.
10.1007/s11002-015-9351-4
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Lacey, S., Hagtvedt, H., Patrick, V. M., Anderson, A., Stilla, R., Deshpande, G., … Sathian, K. (2011). Art for reward's sake: Visual art recruits the ventral striatum. NeuroImage, 55, 420–433.
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.027
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Lee, H.-C., Chen, W.-W., & Wang, C.-W. (2015). The role of visual art in enhancing perceived prestige of luxury brands. Marketing Letters, 26, 593–606.
10.1007/s11002-014-9292-3
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Li, W. K., & Wyer, R. S. Jr (1994). The role of country of origin in product evaluations: Informational and standard-of-comparison effects. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 3, 187–212.
10.1016/S1057-7408(08)80004-6
Google Scholar
Logkizidou, M., Bottomley, P., Angell, R., & Evanschitzky, H. (2019). Why museological merchandise displays enhance luxury product evaluations: an extended art infusion effect. Journal of Retailing, 95, 67–82.
10.1016/j.jretai.2018.11.001
Web of Science®Google Scholar
MacInnis, D. J., Torelli, C. J., & Park, C. W. (2019). Creating cultural meaning in products and brands: A psychological perspective. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 29, 555–562.
10.1002/jcpy.1118
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Magnusson, P., Westjohn, S. A., & Sirianni, N. J. (2019). Beyond country image favorability: How brand positioning via country personality stereotypes enhances brand evaluations. Journal of International Business Studies, 50, 318–338.
10.1057/s41267-018-0175-3
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Maheswaran, D. (1994). Country of origin as a stereotype: Effects of consumer expertise and attribute strength on product evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 21, 354–365.
10.1086/209403
Web of Science®Google Scholar
McCracken, G. (1989). Who is the celebrity endorser? Cultural foundations of the endorsement process. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 310–321.
10.1086/209217
Web of Science®Google Scholar
McNeil, P., & Riello, G. (2016). Luxury: A rich history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Google Scholar
Miyazaki, A. D., Grewal, D., & Goodstein, R. C. (2005). The effect of multiple extrinsic cues on quality perceptions: A matter of consistency. Journal of Consumer Research, 32, 146–153.
10.1086/429606
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Morhart, F., Malär, L., Guèvremont, A., Girardin, F., & Grohmann, B. (2015). Brand authenticity: An integrative framework and measurement scale. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 25, 200–218.
10.1016/j.jcps.2014.11.006
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Peluso, A. M., Pino, G., Amatulli, C., & Guido, G. (2017). Luxury advertising and recognizable artworks: New insights on the “art infusion” effect. European Journal of Marketing, 51, 2192–2206.
10.1108/EJM-09-2016-0496
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Roy, S., Guha, A., Biswas, A., & Grewal, D. (2019). Celebrity endorsements in emerging markets: Align endorsers with brands or with consumers? Journal of International Business Studies, 50, 295–317.
10.1057/s41267-018-00209-1
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Rucker, D. D., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Desire to acquire: Powerlessness and compensatory consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 257–267.
10.1086/588569
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Schwarz, N. (2004). Metacognitive experiences in consumer judgment and decision making. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14, 332–348.
10.1207/s15327663jcp1404_2
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Seo, Y., Buchanan-Oliver, M., & Cruz, A. G. B. (2015). Luxury brand markets as confluences of multiple cultural beliefs. International Marketing Review, 32, 141–159.
10.1108/IMR-04-2013-0081
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Septianto, F., Seo, Y., Sung, B., & Zhao, F. (2020). Authenticity and exclusivity appeals in luxury advertising: the role of promotion and prevention pride. European Journal of Marketing, 54, 1305–1323.
10.1108/EJM-10-2018-0690
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Spencer, S. J., Zanna, M. P., & Fong, G. T. (2005). Establishing a causal chain: why experiments are often more effective than mediational analyses in examining psychological processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 845–851.
10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.845
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Torelli, C. J., & Ahluwalia, R. (2012). Extending culturally symbolic brands: A blessing or a curse? Journal of Consumer Research, 38, 933–947.
10.1086/661081
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Torelli, C. J., Ahluwalia, R., Cheng, S. Y., Olson, N. J., & Stoner, J. L. (2017). Redefining home: How cultural distinctiveness affects the malleability of in-group boundaries and brand preferences. Journal of Consumer Research, 44, 44–61.

Web of Science®Google Scholar
Young, J. O. (2010). Cultural appropriation and the arts. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons.

Google Scholar

Volume32, Issue4

October 2022

Pages 634-651

The Role of Cultural Congruence in the Art Infusion Effect

Abstract

Theoretical Framework

Art Infusion Effect

CO Congruence and Art Infusion

Stereotype-based CO effect

Congruence-based CO effect

CO congruence and cultural authenticity

Empirical Overview

Stimuli Development

Studies

Study 1

Method

Participants and design

Procedure

Results

Manipulation check

Target evaluations

Mediation analysis

Discussion

Study 2

Method

Participants and design

Procedure

Results

Manipulation checks

Target evaluations

Mediation analysis

Follow-Up Experiment

Discussion

Study 3

Method

Participants and design

Procedure

Results

Manipulation checks

Target evaluations

Mediation analysis

Follow-Up Experiment

Discussion

Study 4

Method

Participants and design

Procedure

Results

Target evaluation

Discussion

General Discussion

Theoretical Contributions

Practical Implications

Limitations and Future Research

Supporting Information

References

Figures

References

Related

Information

RESOURCES