Effekter av mänskliga modeller i produktbilder

Sammanfattning: E-commerce is a growing part of the retail market and is expected to grow the following year to come. This growing trend puts emphasis for retailers to present suitable product pictures online, while constantly trying to minimize costs associated with the production cost associated with making of the product pictures. One important decision concerning a retailer's product pictures is the use of a human model. Previous research into the use of a human model in advertisement has shown overall that the human model improves consumer responses. However, previous research has mainly been focused around print advertisements, thus this study aims to broaden the existing knowledge about the effects of a human model in advertisements and apply it to the format of product pictures. The study further aims to recognize under which conditions the effect of the human model is apparent, that is, if there is an interaction between type of product (hedonic, utilitarian) and type of product picture (product picture, person picture). A survey consisting of 208 respondents was used in a 2 x 2 factorial design to measure the effect on the dependent variables; attitude towards the product picture, attitude towards the product, purchase intentions, perceived quality, perceived corporate ability, perceived marketing effort, perceived price and product benefits. A between two-way ANOVA was conducted to distinguish if there is an interaction effect and a follow up test to determine the simple main effects of the product picture. The results show that there is an interaction between product picture and product type, where the type of product acts as a moderator for the effect of the human model. Thus, the positive effect of the human model was only prominent when the hedonic product was displayed and no significant differences was shown when the utilitarian product was shown, underlining the importance of match-up theory. The implications from this study suggests that the decision whether to use a human model in the product picture depends on the relevance between the human model and the product.