Of Snakes, Guns, and Innovative Products: The Impact of Threat Cues on Consumer Preference

Across two empirical essays, the current dissertation documents how design elements that connote potential threats can impact subsequent consumption preferences. Essay 1 focuses on product form, and elaborates on the notion of meaning threats. Meaning threats refer to objects that undermine consumers ability to confirm expected relationships in a category. This essay shows that product forms that are extremely incongruent with the product category tend to violate expectations to such an extent that they can constitute meaning threats, and thus elicit arousal-induced anxiety. Furthermore, this essay documents that consumers will engage in a passive coping strategy after experiencing meaning threats, such that they will prefer objects that can affirm expected relationships in unrelated schemas to alleviate the tension that originates from the inability to confirm expected relationships in product form.

Essay 2 focuses on brand logo design, and elaborates on the notion of physical threats. Physical threats refer to objects that can pose bodily harm to the observer. This essay shows that incorporating motion in the visual design of a brand logo can connote physical threats if the motion appears to be animate, which refers to the perceived ability of the object to move on its own volition. Furthermore, this essay documents that animate motion creates the inference of unsafe conditions in the broad environment, which consumers respond to by engaging in an active coping strategy which elevates the preference of products that can serve to protect consumers, and their valuable resources, from potential negative outcomes.

Overall, the current dissertation suggests that using threat cues in visual design can elevate the preference of objects that satisfy the need to resolve the tension associated with threats, and that by pinpointing the exact nature of the threat, marketers can benefit from using threat cues in visual design.