Can your advertisement go abstract without affecting willingness to pay? Product-centered versus lifestyle content in luxury brand print advertisements

Advertising can focus on concrete product attributes or on lifestyle expressions and abstract benefits. In the context of print advertising, the authors explore the relationship among advertising style (product-based versus lifestyle-building), advertising language (abstract versus concrete), and consumers’ willingness to pay through the lens of construal level theory, providing insights for understanding and using the two strategies. The study found that lifestyle branding was related to high language abstractness; product-based branding was related to language concreteness; and construal level was a mediator, enhancing willingness to pay when low. The use of abstract language and lifestyle-based advertising therefore requires careful consideration.

Advertising can focus on concrete product attributes or on lifestyle expressions and abstract benefits. In the context of print advertising for luxury brands, the authors explored the relationship among advertising style (product-based versus lifestyle-building), advertising language (abstract versus concrete), and consumers’ willingness to pay through the lens of construal level theory, which analyzes the way consumers interpret the brand. The study found that lifestyle branding was related to high language abstractness; product-based branding was related to language concreteness; and construal level was a mediator, enhancing willingness to pay when low. The use of abstract language and lifestyle-based advertising therefore requires careful consideration.