Annual Conference 2019

The current study examines how consumers respond to an ad that features differently sized models (thin versus plus-size). Specifically, this study focuses on the mediating role of consumption visions in consumer evaluations to examine how consumers envision themselves in response to a thin versus plus-size models in advertising. To show this effect, three studies are conducted. Study 1 identifies the influence of self-discrepancy in body size on two negative emotions—guilt and shame and reveals how three different conditions of negative emotions such as guilt-dominant, equivalently negative, and shame-dominant emotions affect consumption visions. Study 2 tests how consumption visions are related to purchase intention while considering the gender effect. Study 3 reconfirms the findings from Study 1 and 2 and tests how three different types of emotional dominance affect consumer purchase intention. The proposed model identifies two emotion routes. A “positive” route motivated by guilt increases purchase intention and a “negative” route driven by shame decreases purchase intention through consumption visions. Theoretical discussion and practical suggestions are provided at the end in this study.