I want to remember: preference for visual intensity in sentimental purchases

What determines an individual's preference for high- or low-intensity visual stimuli? This research designed four studies, including one incentive-compatible study, to explore a novel situation—imbuing a product with sentimental value to drive consumer consumption of intense visual stimulation. We manipulated imbuing a product with sentimental value from both the consumers' (via hypothetical scenarios) and the marketers' (via brand positioning) perspectives. The results reveal that when a product is imbued with sentimental value, consumers exhibit a greater preference for high-intensity visual stimuli (highly saturated colors; Studies 1 and 2), and this effect is driven by consumers' heightened desire for memorability (Study 3). Moreover, the investigated effect diminishes when the expected usage time frame of products is short (vs. long; Study 4). Our work contributes to sentimental value, memory, and visual sensory marketing literature. The findings also provide strong managerial implications for marketing practitioners to properly use and design visual sensory stimuli. Specifically, we offer a viable way to incorporate sentiment into retailing (i.e., via brand positioning) and identify factors that marketers should consider (e.g., manufacturing materials) to promote rich visual elements in situations involving imbuing products with sentimental value.