Depict Luxury Products in Far and High Places

Luxury brands are aspirational.

Too attainable? We no longer desire them.

Therefore, luxury brands should feel distant. In one study, customers preferred a luxury backpack when they were standing far away, but they preferred an everyday backpack when they were standing closer (Chu et al., 2021).

How to Apply

• Advertise on Billboards. Brands appear more powerful up high (Sundar & Noseworthy, 2014).
• Zoom Backwards in Videos. This motion is persuasive (Togawa & Sugitani, 2022).
• Zoom Out to Show Bodies. Faces and bodies contribute different meaning in social perception. Faces contribute to friendliness perceptions, whereas bodies contribute to status perceptions via body size, shape, posture, clothing, etc. Include photos that are zoomed out to show this information (Bjornsdottir et al., 2024).
• Obscure a Portion of the Product. Luxury watches will need close-up images to showcase the expert craftsmanship, but isn't this contradictory? In these situations, don't show the whole watch. Leave portions outside the canvas to maintain exclusivity, as if viewers should feel privileged to gaze the visible portion (Sevilla & Meyer, 2020).
• Angle Photos Upward. Even mundane products, like white rice, look more powerful when the brand photography is positioned with an upward view (Van Rompay et al., 2012).

• Bjornsdottir, R. T., Connor, P., & Rule, N. O. (2024). Social judgments from faces and bodies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
• Chu, X. Y., Chang, C. T., & Lee, A. Y. (2021). Values created from far and near: Influence of spatial distance on brand evaluation. Journal of Marketing, 85(6), 162-175.
• Park, J., & Hadi, R. (2020). Shivering for status: When cold temperatures increase product evaluation. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 30(2), 314-328.
• Park, M., Im, H., & Kim, H. Y. (2020). “You are too friendly!” The negative effects of social media marketing on value perceptions of luxury fashion brands. Journal of Business Research, 117, 529-542.
• Sevilla, J., & Meyer, R. J. (2020). Leaving something for the imagination: The effect of visual concealment on preferences. Journal of Marketing, 84(4), 109-126.
• Sundar, A., & Noseworthy, T. J. (2014). Place the logo high or low? Using conceptual metaphors of power in packaging design. Journal of Marketing, 78(5), 138-151.
• Togawa, T., & Sugitani, Y. (2022). Looks Far Beyond My Reach: The Zoom Effect in Product Videos Influences Luxury Perception and Purchase Intention. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 32(4), 687-698.
• Van Rompay, T. J., De Vries, P. W., Bontekoe, F., & Tanja‐Dijkstra, K. (2012). Embodied product perception: Effects of verticality cues in advertising and packaging design on consumer impressions... Psychology & Marketing, 29(12), 919-928.