The spread of COVID-19 changes consumer preferences and behaviors greatly across the world. Extant literature has demonstrated that when there is a threat to disease, people stay away from those who do not seem healthy as they can be potentially infectious. Based on the previous literature, this research shows that individuals exposed to disease threat avoid products of which designs are high in visual complexity. When disease threat was present, individuals had lower purchase intention for products with complex designs. The perceived uncleanliness mediated the effect of visual complexity and disease threat on purchase intention. The findings provide a novel insight into the effect of disease salience on consumer perception of product design.

Although several researchers have investigated atypical naming effects with respect to food and color names, no research has examined atypical names in the context of apparel products. In this research, we investigated the way in which atypical clothing names influence consumers’ mental imagery, followed by consumers’ evaluations, compared to typical clothing names. We also investigated the moderating effect of the clothing design’s visual complexity. An experimental design was used with 2 name (atypical vs. typical name) × 2 levels of visual complexity (complex vs. simple design) between-subjects design. A total of 292 responses were collected. The results showed that the atypical name was more effective than were the typical one in influencing consumer’s attitudes and purchase intentions. Also, we found significant interaction effects of visual complexity and names on consumers’ evaluations, which are mediated by mental imagery. For clothes with a simple design, the atypical clothing name increased mental imagery, followed by product attitudes and purchase intentions, more than the typical name did. In contrast, when participants were presented with a garment with a complex design, typical and atypical names did not have different effects on consumers’ evaluations of the garment through their mental imagery. The findings of this study help marketers understand better the way in which consumers process certain names associated with a garment’s design cognitively, and therefore, improve their ability to name garments strategically depending on their design details.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of using the simulation landscape image by analyzing the landscape characteristics of the Landscape image and the simulation landscape image among the methods to grasp the quantitative relationship between the physical change of the user and the human response. The research subjects were set as Cheongnyang-ri station square, and the research method is as follows. A survey was conducted based on the extracted landscape adjectives for comparison of actual landscape image and simulated landscape images. In addition, image analysis, preference and complexity analysis, and decision factor of landscape preference were analyzed to Comparison analysis the characteristics of actual landscape image and simulated landscape images. The results of comparative analysis are as follows. First, it can be seen that there is no difference in the factors that affect the specificity and openness in using the simulation landscape image. Second, preference analysis shows that both the Landscape image and the simulation landscape image are the most preferred at 10% of users. Third, the complexity is low at 0% in both the Landscape image and the simulation landscape image, and 35% is high in complexity. Fourth, the comparative analysis of the decision factor of landscape preference by 'visual complexity and preference', 'User fluctuation and preference', 'User fluctuation and visual complexity' were analyzed. Therefore, it can be seen that the method using the simulation landscape image rather than the actual landscape image is more efficient when analyzing the visual cognitive characteristics.

Quick Response (QR) code has often been employed in promotional coupon campaigns worldwide. This research addresses whether and how curiosity, visual complexity and perceived fit jointly affect consumers’ intention to scan such a code. Based on relevant theories from marketing and psychology, we posit that, while consumers with the high level of curiosity are likely to be more bound to visual complexity, consumers with the low level of curiosity tend to rely more on a good perceived fit, thus overcome the negative effects of visual complexity, forming greater scan intention. To this end, we conduct an experimental study with general consumer sample. The findings support our main prediction. In closing, we discuss theoretical and managerial implications while recognizing important limitations and suggesting future research directions.