Aesthetics in Marketing

Aesthetic design is pervasive in the marketplace, where it influences consumer behavior, endows products with value, and differentiates between brands. In fact, research suggests that aesthetic appeal drives sales across most product categories. The time is ripe for taking stock of the state of research in this domain. Aesthetics in Marketing begins with a characterization of this domain of research and then organizes extant literature in two ways: First, it provides an overview of aesthetics principles, outcomes stemming from these principles, and contexts in which these principles operate. Second, it zooms in on the principle of ambiguity in specific to provide a detailed discussion of ambiguous versus accessible aesthetic elements. The author also provides directions for future research.