ABSTRACT
Browse the pages of any popular magazine, and you will be invited to imagine yourself experiencing various products. To evoke consumption imagery, advertisers o en use appeals such as “imagine yourself in a Mercury,” “ nd yourself here,” or “imagine your perfect home.” 3D advertising and virtual realities encourage consumers to interact with the product and visualize the consumption experience (Gri h & Chen, 2004; Grigirivici, 2003; Li, Daugherty, & Biocca, 2002; Schlosser, 2003; Sheridan, 1992). Imagery is a central component of narrative stories (Green & Brock, 2000; Mandel, Petrova, & Cialdini, 2006), drama ads (Deighton, Romer, & McQueen, 1989; Stern, 1994), slice-of-life ads (Mick, 1987), and transformational ads (Puto & Wells, 1984). Consumer researchers de ne imagery as a process by which sensory information is represented in working memory (MacInnis & Price, 1987). Imagery has been distinguished from discursive, analytical processing of information such as verbal encoding, cognitive responding, counterarguing, and formulation of choice rules. Whereas discursive processing involves abstract symbols, words, and numbers (MacInnis & Price, 1987), imagery involves encoding in the form of nonverbal concrete sensory representations (Childers, Houston, & Heckler, 1985; Epstein, 1994).
