Editing Consumer behaviour (section)

=== The role of aesthetics and visual fluency in relation to consumer choice ===
Consumers decide whether or not they like a product within 90 seconds of viewing it for the first time.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last1=Moir|first1=Diane|date=2011-10-19|title=Trademark Protection of Color Alone: How and When Does a Color Develop Secondary Meaning and Why Color Marks Can Never Be Inherently Distinctive|url=https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/lawreview/vol27/iss2/9|journal=Touro Law Review|volume=27|issue=2|issn=8756-7326}}</ref> Therefore, having an aesthetically pleasing product is essential in the marketplace. Studies in [[processing fluency]] and consumer behaviour have revealed that "that people prefer visual displays that are easier to process and understand."<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|last1=Palmer|first1=Stephen E.|last2=Schloss|first2=Karen B.|last3=Sammartino|first3=Jonathan|date=2013-01-02|title=Visual Aesthetics and Human Preference|journal=Annual Review of Psychology|volume=64|issue=1|pages=77–107|doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100504|pmid=23020642|s2cid=6258525 |issn=0066-4308}}</ref> and "When a product matches the user's associations with it it is perceived as more attractive."<ref name=":9" /> Visually fluent products draw upon consumer's pre-existing associations with their design elements, leading to a sense of familiarity and understanding with the product at hand. Visual cues such as colour, composition, typography, and imagery are associated with the phenomenon of fluency.

==== Colour ====
{{See also|Color psychology}}
[[File:No Name Brand Logo.svg|thumb|181x181px|[[File:No name sans nom chili sauce.jpg|thumb|184x184px]]No Name Brand is associated with economy and affordability. Because of yellow's associations with cheapness, this brand's logo is processed fluently and easily by consumers.]]
Research in colour psychology has shown 62-90% of consumer product assessment is based on colour alone.<ref name=":7" />  Indeed, colours have been shown to be linked to consumer's perceptions<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Labrecque |first1=Lauren I. |last2=Patrick |first2=Vanessa M. |last3=Milne |first3=George R. |date=February 2013 |title=The Marketers' Prismatic Palette: A Review of Color Research and Future Directions: THE MARKETERS' PRISMATIC PALETTE |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mar.20597 |journal=Psychology & Marketing |language=en |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=187–202 |doi=10.1002/mar.20597|url-access=subscription }}</ref> on a product's quality, reliability, and value. The colours blue and black are viewed as being more reliable, valuable, and expensive while yellow, orange, and brown are associated with cheapness and low quality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.joehallock.com/edu/COM498/associations.html|title=Colour Assignment - Associations|website=www.joehallock.com|access-date=2020-03-28}}</ref> Therefore, a product intended to be perceived as "high quality" with a predominately orange and brown palette would lack visual fluency and would likely fail to elicit a positive response with consumers. However, this can be advantageous if the consumer is already in the market for an item that is known to be inexpensive, in which case the use of yellow, orange, or brown would be appropriate. Colour can also be used to signal brand personality.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Labrecque |first1=Lauren I. |last2=Milne |first2=George R. |date=2012-09-01 |title=Exciting red and competent blue: the importance of color in marketing |journal=Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science |language=en |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=711–727 |doi=10.1007/s11747-010-0245-y |s2cid=255381568 |issn=1552-7824}}</ref>

==== Composition ====
Composition is another visual tool that has the ability to affect information processing and influence in consumer perceptions. Studies have shown that consumers in western countries will associate products that are right aligned or placed on the right side of a display to be higher quality.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal|last1=Chae|first1=Boyoun|last2=Hoegg|first2=JoAndrea|date=2013-08-01|title=The Future Looks "Right": Effects of the Horizontal Location of Advertising Images on Product Attitude|url=https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/40/2/223/2911018|journal=Journal of Consumer Research|language=en|volume=40|issue=2|pages=223–238|doi=10.1086/669476|issn=0093-5301|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Humans also have a center bias, which makes products that are centered or symmetrical in composition or display seem intrinsically more pleasing.<ref name=":10" /> Products that are centered in composition or have centered elements are perceived as being more attractive, popular, and important than products that are left aligned or right aligned.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Valenzuela|first1=Ana|last2=Raghubir|first2=Priya|date=2009|title=Position-based beliefs: The center-stage effect|journal=Journal of Consumer Psychology|language=en|volume=19|issue=2|pages=185–196|doi=10.1016/j.jcps.2009.02.011|issn=1532-7663}}</ref> When an object is centered compositionally, it easier for a viewer to interpret and understand. It becomes more "fluent" and is therefore viewed as being more aesthetically pleasing.<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|last1=Reber|first1=Rolf|last2=Schwarz|first2=Norbert|s2cid=2626302|date=1999-09-01|title=Effects of Perceptual Fluency on Judgments of Truth|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810099903860|journal=Consciousness and Cognition|language=en|volume=8|issue=3|pages=338–342|doi=10.1006/ccog.1999.0386|pmid=10487787|issn=1053-8100|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==== Imagery ====
Evidence has shown that pictorial imagery correlates to higher instances of consumer recall and recognition. Pictorial imagery is also easier to process and gains consumer's attention faster.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last1=Lewis|first1=Michael|last2=Whitler|first2=Kimberly A.|last3=Hoegg|first3=JoAndrea|date=2013-09-01|title=Customer Relationship Stage and the Use of Picture-Dominant versus Text-Dominant Advertising: A Field Study|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022435913000043|journal=Journal of Retailing|language=en|volume=89|issue=3|pages=263–280|doi=10.1016/j.jretai.2013.01.003|issn=0022-4359|url-access=subscription}}</ref> There is significant evidence that when consumers are presented with multiple choices, they will view objects more positively and more aesthetically pleasing when surrounded by congruent imagery.<ref name=":11" /> After repeated exposure, this familiar imagery becomes incorporated into consumer's visual lexicon and they become "fluent" in it. Images with higher levels of visual fluency perceived as being more familiar, likeable, and friendly and are therefore more likely to be chosen by consumers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Oppenheimer|first1=Daniel M.|last2=Frank|first2=Michael C.|s2cid=9786621|date=2008-03-01|title=A rose in any other font would not smell as sweet: Effects of perceptual fluency on categorization|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027707001515|journal=Cognition|language=en|volume=106|issue=3|pages=1178–1194|doi=10.1016/j.cognition.2007.05.010|pmid=17618616|issn=0010-0277|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==== Typographic elements ====
Although studies have shown that of pictorial imagery is easier for consumers to process and understand,<ref name=":12" /> the choice of typography remains an indispensable element of product design. Handwritten and scripted fonts are associated with individuality, femininity, and luxury while sans serif fonts embody energy, cleanliness, and modernity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Brumberger|first1=E.|date=2003|title=The Rhetoric of Typography: The Persona of Typeface and Text|url=https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/the-rhetoric-of-typography-the-persona-of-typeface-and-text-2|journal=Technical Communication|language=en|volume=50|pages=206–223|issn=0049-3155}}</ref> Font size has also been shown to have a direct correlation on the emotional attributes assigned to a product. One study has shown that larger type size and weight is perceived as more intimidating and authoritative.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bayer|first1=Mareike|last2=Sommer|first2=Werner|last3=Schacht|first3=Annekathrin|date=2012-05-09|title=Font Size Matters—Emotion and Attention in Cortical Responses to Written Words|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=7|issue=5|pages=e36042|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0036042|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3348912|pmid=22590518|bibcode=2012PLoSO...736042B|doi-access=free}}</ref> Although imagery reigns supreme in product design, type is processed just as easily as pictorial information when the consumer is already familiar with the product.