The study examines conditions that will make advertising images more effective. According to construal level theory, image proximity can be conceptualized as a degree of image concreteness depending on whether the image appears to be near or far. The study extends construal level theory by suggesting advertising appeals and product types as possible moderators for the effects of image proximity. A factorial design experiment reveals that close-up advertising images evoke low-level construals, with resulting higher evaluations of rational appeals. By contrast, long-shot images evoke high-level construals, with resulting higher evaluations of emotional appeals. More important, product category moderates brand attitude: utilitarian products will cause low-level construal to match more strongly with rational appeals; hedonic products will cause high-level construal to match more strongly with emotional appeals. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Introduction

Visual imagery is well-known to influence advertising effectiveness. Advertising researchers studying visual stimuli and advertising effectiveness have focused on image size (i.e., Percy & Rossiter, 1983; Pieters & Wedel, 2004) to show that viewers peripherally determine image size by comparing the image with the visual angle (Holway & Boring, 1941), with consequent effects on their image processing, meaning, and persuasion. For example, a distantly placed camera captures a larger viewing area, a longer image, and a smaller visual angle. A closely placed camera captures more object details. Consumers exposed to advertisements with more visual details tend to construct self-related narratives and imagine themselves in the consumption setting because concrete pictures are better than abstract pictures for enhancing the vividness of mental imagery (Babin & Burns, 1997; Phillips, 1996). Advertising research has explored the use of large displays for providing contextual information (e.g., Baudisch, Good, Belloti, & Schraedley, 2002; Tan, Gergle, Scupelli, & Pausch, 2003) and the effects of camera angles on product evaluations (MeyersLevy & Peracchio, 1992; Peracchio & Meyers-Levy, 2005) and judgments (Kraft, 1987; Meyers-Levy & Peracchio, 1992; Peracchio & Meyers-Levy, 2005). Only a few researchers have discussed how vision angles influence psychological processes and persuasion (Larsen, Luna, & Peracchio, 2004).