Marketers Want Consumers to Imagine Using a Product—But How Well Does This Actually Work?

A new Journal of Marketing study synthesizes over 50 studies conducted over four decades to quantify how much and when prompting mental simulations heightens purchase. Results show that more immersive visual simulation inductions (e.g., via 3D videos) heighten purchase and consumption more than static visuals or verbal inductions. However, when inundated with the same messages over and over, simulation reduces purchases.

Read an in-depth recap of this research here: https://www.ama.org/2023/08/15/marketers-want-consumers-to-imagine-using-a-product-but-how-well-does-this-actually-work/

Read the full Journal of Marketing article here: https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429231181071

Reference: Gizem Ceylan, Kristin Diehl, and Wendy Wood, “From Mentally Doing to Actually Doing: A Meta-Analysis of Induced Positive Consumption Simulations,” Journal of Marketing.

Narrator: Elizabeth Ann Sismour

Acknowledgments: Sushma Kambagowni

Topics: mental simulation, consumer behavior, advertising, sales, consumer experience, meta-analysis

The JM Buzz Podcast is a production of the American Marketing Association's Journal of Marketing and is produced by University FM