Perfect social media image posts: symmetry and contrast influence consumer response

Abstract

Purpose Two studies investigate how different structural properties of images – symmetry (vertical and horizontal) and image contrast – affect social media marketing outcomes of consumer liking and engagement. Design/methodology/approach In Study 1’s experiment, 361 participants responded to social media marketing images that varied in vertical or horizontal symmetry and level of image contrast. Study 2 analyzes field data on 610 Instagram posts. Findings Study 1 demonstrates that vertical or horizontal symmetry and high image contrast increase consumer liking of social media marketing images, and that processing fluency and aesthetic response mediate these relationships. Study 2 reveals that symmetry and high image contrast improve consumer engagement on social media (number of “likes” and comments). Research limitations/implications These studies extend theory regarding processing fluency’s and aesthetic response’s roles in consumer outcomes within social media marketing. Image posts’ structural properties affect processing fluency and aesthetic response without altering brand information or advertising content. Practical implications Because consumer liking of marketing communications (e.g. social media posts) predicts persuasion and sales, results should help marketers design more effective posts and achieve brand-building and behavioral objectives. Based on the results, marketers are urged to consider the processing fluency and aesthetic response associated with any image developed for social media marketing. Originality/value Addressing the lack of empirical investigations in the existing literature, the reported studies demonstrate that effects of symmetry and image contrast in generating liking are driven by processing fluency and aesthetic response. Additionally, these studies establish novel effects of images’ structural properties on consumer engagement with brand-based social media marketing communications.

The impact of social media visual features on acceptance of meat substitute

“…Third, we also find a joint (i.e., interaction) effect between warm color and vertical symmetry, such that the positive effect of warm color would be stronger when the image also has vertical symmetry. However, while some studies find that horizontal and vertical symmetry have similar effects (e.g., Kostyk & Huhmann, 2021), we note that we do not find support for the joint effect between warm color and horizontal symmetry. Thus, we add to theory on symmetry in imagery.…”

“…In the current research, we examine the role of two important visual features – color and symmetry. This is consistent with past research demonstrating how these features can significantly influence consumer evaluations of a brand (Bettels & Wiedmann, 2019; Kostyk & Huhmann, 2021; Labrecque & Milne, 2012) as well as with research on imagery in food perceptions (Manippa et al, 2022; Romero & Biswas, 2016; Valenzuela & Raghubir, 2015). Among a wide range of color features, prior research has investigated the role of color hues, which reflect the wavelength of light within the visible spectrum (Labrecque, 2020; Labrecque et al, 2013), in influencing consumer decision making (Choi et al, 2020; Ettis, 2017; Hsieh et al, 2018).…”

“…Notably, the findings of this research show that the use of warm color, vertical symmetry, and horizontal symmetry would increase the number of likes of a post (i.e., social acceptance) associated with plant-based meat brands. We thus add to the emerging literature on social media marketing and how associated images can influence consumer responses (Kostyk & Huhmann, 2021), especially in the food context.…”

“…In the context of this research, we examine symmetry within social media images, in which a symmetrical object would have "at least one symmetry axis […] that splits the object into two identical but mirror-inverted halves" (Treder, 2010(Treder, , p. 1512. For instance, the letters "D" or "E" reflect a mirror symmetry around the horizontal axis (i.e., horizontal symmetry), while the letters "A" or "V" reflect a mirror symmetry around the vertical axis (i.e., vertical symmetry) (Kostyk & Huhmann, 2021;Treder, 2010).…”

Social Networks and E-Loyalty: A New Means of Sports Training during COVID-19 Quarantines

“…According to Kostyk and Huhmann [29], social networks play a very important role in the creation of the image of a digital brand, because the greater the sustained interaction of a consumer with the content of a brand in social networks, the greater their loyalty to it.…”