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date: 07 May 2021

Abstract and Keywords

This chapter provides an overview of the role of empirical aesthetics in the field of consumer behavior. It is developed around the idea that individuals have consumption-related aesthetic experiences in daily life, ranging from the products they use to the places and spaces they frequent. The chapter introduces the notion of everyday consumer aesthetics to capture this idea. The chapter begins with a discussion of the cognitive and emotional response that consumers have to visual features such as color, shape, and surface appeal, and visual concepts such as cuteness and anthropomorphism. Next, the outcomes of aesthetic appeal and a broad categorization of aesthetic products are presented. The chapter concludes with challenges and future directions for the study of consumer aesthetics.

Keywords: everyday consumer aesthetics, art, color, shape, surface appeal, cuteness, anthropomorphism, consumer behavior

Vanessa M. Patrick

C.T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston

Henrik Hagtvedt

Carroll School of Management, Boston College

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