The aesthetic effect of products on purchase intention and purchase commitment at the point of sale with the mediating role of emotional attachment and the moderating role of consumer goals

Nowadays, the manufacturing and supply of beautiful products is an important factor which can attract customers and motivate their purchase intention through point of sale (POS) marketing. Thus, there is a challenge for manufacturers and stores to attract customers. According to research in this field, the level of customers' trust and the perceived risk that they have when buying from manufacturers and stores has a significant impact on the relationship between their mental image and their purchase intention. Consumers have the ability to develop strong emotional attachments as well as deep relationships with brands to meet their functional, materialistic and emotional needs, which occurs through features such as designing a beautiful product. Great coordination between beautifully designed products and consumer tastes increases the ability of products to convey this special value to brands. Products with a high aesthetic value create a sense of emotional belonging among customers and consumers. In other words, there is a close relationship between the aesthetic features of a product and the emotional responses of consumers. In general, choosing a product with a high aesthetic value, a suitable design and a nice color as well as good performance lead to a sense of excitement and satisfaction among customers. The present study was carried out with the aim of increasing knowledge in the field of consumer behavior, especially to stimulate and induce responses in buyers with beautiful products at the point of sale. The study also seeks to investigate the aesthetic effect of products on purchase intention at the point of sale with the mediating role of emotional attachment and the moderating role of consumer goals. 

This is a cross-sectional descriptive-survey study. The statistical population of the research included the customers of Iranian and foreign home appliances in Tehran. In total, 400 customers were selected by a random sampling method. The data collection tool was a standard questionnaire and the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. The Partial Least Squares approach (Smart PLS) was employed to test the hypotheses and the conceptual model.

The research findings reveal that aesthetic products have significant effects on purchase intention as well as purchase commitment. The indirect effect of these products is through the mediating variable of emotional attachment is significant. Purchase commitment has a significant effect on purchase intention. Functional goals positively and significantly affect the relationship between emotional attachment and purchase intention; however, the relationship between emotional attachment and purchase commitment is not significant. Moreover, materialistic goals positively and significantly affect the relationship between emotional attachment and purchase commitment, but they are not significant in the relationship between emotional attachment and purchase intention. The results of the Mann-Whitney U test suggest that the mean ratings of foreign products are higher than those of domestic products and that foreign brands are in a better position than the Iranian brands.

According to the results of this study, people who experience higher emotional responses with beautiful products tend to maintain a relationship with those brands and return to buy them again. It can be concluded that the attention of household appliance manufacturers to the beauty of products has a significant effect on the sensory evaluation of customers and encourages them to buy those brands. Also, satisfaction with the purchased product can lead to repurchase or purchase commitment. According to the findings of this study, consumers who purchase foreign brands have more emotional attachment than those who buy domestic brands. The purchase commitment and purchase intention among the consumers of foreign household appliance brands are higher than in those who buy domestic appliance brands. Therefore, household appliance manufacturers and sellers should consider sensory evaluation in product design and color selection, persuade customers to buy using point-of-sale marketing and make them experience an exciting purchase that satisfies them. The products designed based on aesthetic principles are able to create positive feelings or instinctive reactions that motivate consumers to buy, so appliance manufacturers should consider aesthetics for their products. There is a close relationship between the aesthetic characteristics of a product and the emotional responses of consumers, and scientific evidence shows how the aesthetic characteristics of a product stimulate and create an emotional response. According to the results of this study, aesthetic products stimulate the emotions of consumers; a product with higher aesthetics is more likely to have a significant impact on consumers' positive emotions. Aesthetic values, as a mediator, play an important role to stimulate emotions. Furthermore, the results suggest that designing a product with high aesthetics stimulates consumers' emotions, which can lead to consumer purchase intention (CPI). Also, consumers believe that the purpose of their purchase is their favorite quality and features. They believe that beautiful and efficient products have a significant impact on achieving their purposes. They stated that they purchase household appliances to meet their functional and materialistic needs. Given that those products are classified as durable ones, most consumers believe that their purpose is to have good function of the products. Manufacturing companies can pay more attention to this issue.