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An overstimulated consumer in a highly visual world: the moderating effect of the highly sensitive person trait on the attitude towards the ad

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Abstract

Brands are striving for attention and seeking to attract the right customer, therefore online advertisements have become their big new showroom. Generally, advertisements combine colored imagery and strong movements to encourage and capture the consumer’s attention. However, research shows that people may react differently to similar stimuli depending on their personality traits. This research focuses on how people with a higher sensitivity to external stimuli – commonly defined as Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) – react when exposed to ads with excessive visual stimuli (i.e., colors, dynamic imagery, complex layouts). Results from two studies – (1) an experiment conducted online (n = 149); and (2) a biometric data collection using Mind Wave, a brain wave-reading device from NeuroSky (n = 18) – showed that the HSP trait affects ads perception and leads to a negative reaction toward overstimulating advertisements. This study sheds some light on the literature about personality traits and online consumer behavior.

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Acknowledgement

Part of this research was presented at the 3rd Digital Marketing and eCommerce Conference, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, June 29–30, 2022.

Funding

This study was supported by UNIDCOM under a Grant by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UIDB/DES/00711/2020) awarded to UNIDCOM/IADE – Unidade de Investigação em Design e Comunicação, Lisbon, Portugal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Português de Administração de Marketing - IPAM Lisboa, Estrada da Correia, 53, 1500-210, Lisboa, Portugal

    Ana Cláudia Amaro & Luisa M. Martinez

  2. UNIDCOM/IADE, Unidade de Investigação em Design e Comunicação, Av. D. Carlos I, 4, 1200-649, Lisboa, Portugal

    Luisa M. Martinez

  3. Centro de Estatística e Aplicações da Universidade de Lisboa (CEAUL), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal

    Filipe R. Ramos

  4. Faculty of Economics, Universidade de Coimbra, Av. Dias da Silva, 165, 3004-512, CeBER, Coimbra, Portugal

    Karla Menezes & Silvio Menezes

  5. Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Campus do IPS - Estefanilha, 2910-761, Setúbal, Portugal

    Karla Menezes

  6. Instituto Português de Administração de Marketing - IPAM Porto, R. Manuel Pinto de Azevedo, 748, 4100-320, Porto, Portugal

    Silvio Menezes

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Amaro, A.C., Martinez, L.M., Ramos, F.R. et al. An overstimulated consumer in a highly visual world: the moderating effect of the highly sensitive person trait on the attitude towards the ad. Electron Commer Res 23, 1429–1458 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-022-09639-4

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