IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/jconrs/v34y2007i2p174-186.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Influence of Ceiling Height: The Effect of Priming on the Type of Processing That People Use

Author

Listed:
  • Joan Meyers-Levy
  • Rui (Juliet) Zhu

Abstract

This article demonstrates that variations in ceiling height can prime concepts that, in turn, affect how consumers process information. We theorized that when reasonably salient, a high versus low ceiling can prime the concepts of freedom versus confinement, respectively. These concepts, in turn, can prompt consumers' use of predominately relational versus item-specific processing. Three studies found support for this theorizing. On a variety of measures, ceiling height-induced relational or item-specific processing was indicated by people's reliance on integrated and abstract versus discrete and concrete ideation. Hence, this research sheds light on when and how ceiling height can affect consumers' responses. (c) 2007 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Suggested Citation

  • Joan Meyers-Levy & Rui (Juliet) Zhu, 2007. "The Influence of Ceiling Height: The Effect of Priming on the Type of Processing That People Use," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(2), pages 174-186, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:34:y:2007:i:2:p:174-186
    DOI: 10.1086/519146
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/519146
    File Function: link to full text
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/519146?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Logkizidou, Maria & Bottomley, Paul & Angell, Rob & Evanschitzky, Heiner, 2019. "Why Museological Merchandise Displays Enhance Luxury Product Evaluations: An Extended Art Infusion Effect," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 67-82.
    2. Izadi, Anoosha & Rudd, Melanie & Patrick, Vanessa M., 2019. "The Way the Wind Blows: Direction of Airflow Energizes Consumers and Fuels Creative Engagement," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(4), pages 143-157.
    3. Sanghee Kim & Hyejin Park & Seungyeon Choo, 2021. "Effects of Changes to Architectural Elements on Human Relaxation-Arousal Responses: Based on VR and EEG," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-28, April.
    4. Anbang Dai & Jiajie Zou & Junru Wang & Nai Ding & Hiroatsu Fukuda, 2022. "Aesthetic judgment of architecture for Chinese observers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(4), pages 1-8, April.
    5. Yu-Shan Athena Chen & Lien-Ti Bei, 2019. "Free the brand: How a logo frame influences the potentiality of brand extensions," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(4), pages 349-364, July.
    6. Kelting, Katie & Berry, Christopher & van Horen, Femke, 2019. "The presence of copycat private labels in a product set increases consumers' choice ease when shopping with an abstract mindset," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 264-274.
    7. Jia Li & Rachel McCrary, 2022. "Consumer communications and current events: a cross-cultural study of the change in consumer response to company social media posts due to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(2), pages 173-183, June.
    8. Helmefalk, Miralem & Hultén, Bertil, 2017. "Multi-sensory congruent cues in designing retail store atmosphere: Effects on shoppers’ emotions and purchase behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-11.
    9. Li, Yi-Na & Li, Yan & Chen, Haipeng (Allan) & Wei, Jiuchang, 2023. "How verbal and non-verbal cues in a CEO apology for a corporate crisis affect a firm’s social disapproval," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    10. JinHyo Joseph Yun & Xiaofei Zhao & Tan Yigitcanlar & DooSeok Lee & HeungJu Ahn, 2018. "Architectural Design and Open Innovation Symbiosis: Insights from Research Campuses, Manufacturing Systems, and Innovation Districts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, November.
    11. Wen, Na & Lurie, Nicholas H., 2019. "More Than Aesthetic: Visual Boundaries and Perceived Variety," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 86-98.
    12. Hoffman, Donna L. & Novak, Thomas P., 2009. "Flow Online: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 23-34.
    13. Valerie L. Bartelt & Alan R. Dennis & Lingyao Yuan & Jordan B. Barlow, 2013. "Individual Priming in Virtual Team Decision-Making," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 873-896, September.
    14. Haghbayan Sara & Malek Mohammad Reza & Tashayo Behnam, 2020. "Visual Description of the Indoor Space of Real Estate in Crowd-Sourcing Environments," Real Estate Management and Valuation, Sciendo, vol. 28(3), pages 91-103, September.
    15. Wang, Lili & You, Yanfen & Yang, Chun-Ming, 2020. "Restrained by resources: The effect of scarcity cues and childhood socioeconomic status (SES) on consumer preference for feasibility," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 557-571.
    16. Kevin L. Sample & Henrik Hagtvedt & S. Adam Brasel, 2020. "Components of visual perception in marketing contexts: a conceptual framework and review," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 405-421, May.
    17. Selin Atalay, A. & Onur Bodur, H. & Bressoud, Etienne, 2017. "When and How Multitasking Impacts Consumer Shopping Decisions," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 187-200.
    18. Stillman, Paul E. & Fujita, Kentaro & Sheldon, Oliver & Trope, Yaacov, 2018. "From “me” to “we”: The role of construal level in promoting maximized joint outcomes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 16-25.
    19. Sumitra Auschaitrakul & Dan King & Yanfen You, 2024. "From physical space to mental space: feelings of being physically constrained increase consumer preference for mind-expanding products," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 231-242, June.
    20. Chenjing Wu & Fuqun Liang & Xiaoling Liang & Chuangbing Huang & Hua Wang & Xianyou He & Wei Zhang & Don Rojas & Yan Duan, 2021. "Spacious Environments Make Us Tolerant—The Role of Emotion and Metaphor," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-17, October.
    21. Wongkitrungrueng, Apiradee & Valenzuela, Ana & Sen, Sankar, 2018. "The Cake Looks Yummy on the Shelf up There: The Interactive Effect of Retail Shelf Position and Consumers’ Personal Sense of Power on Indulgent Choice," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 280-295.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:34:y:2007:i:2:p:174-186. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/jcr .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.