Firms widely use smiling models to create a positive background setting for advertisements. This study assesses the various effects of smiling in print advertisements across different stages of consumer decision-making, while also considering interaction effects between the genders of models and viewers. Empirical evidence comes from 175,647 consumer evaluations of 421 real advertisements across a broad spectrum of product categories (22). Beyond gender, a smiling model not only effects a positive attitude change but also influences a product’s integration into a relevant set and a consumer’s purchase intention. For female consumers, a smiling model of the same gender exerts a greater influence on positive brand attitude change and on purchase intention. Advertisers should avoid using non-smiling male models when targeting female consumers. In contrast, smiling models of both genders can positively influence male consumer reaction, while use of a female model should be avoided during the early stages.

Introduction

Smiling is a congruent and expected part of the human face schema (Baudouin, Gilibert, Sansone, & Tiberghien, 2000) and generally signifies a positive emotional experience (Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002). Marketers frequently use smiling models in their marketing communications, ranging from advertising to packaging, in an effort to positively influence consumer emotions. Emotional contagion theory suggests that the receiver feels the same emotions manifested by the sender when exposed to emotionally charged facial expressions such as smiling (Weißhaar & Huber, 2016). In addition, inferential processes may lead to even more far-reaching effects of smiling on consumer actions (Reis et al., 1990). In services marketing, a myriad of studies indicates that the mantra “service with a smile” is a frequently used tool to influence consumers’ perceptions of service encounters (Andrzejewski & Mooney, 2016; Barger & Grandey, 2006; Keh, Ren, Hill, & Li, 2013) and engender consumer satisfaction (Söderlund & Rosengren, 2010).