Art infusion and functional theories of attitudes toward luxury brands: The mediating role of feelings of self-inauthenticity

Underpinned by art infusion theory and functional theories of attitudes, this present research examines the art infusion effect on brand evaluation among consumers whose attitudes might serve a value-expressive or social-adjustive function, and the role of self-inauthenticity feelings in these relationships. We conducted three experimental studies to test our hypotheses. The objective of Studies 1 and 2 was to confirm the moderating effect of value-expressive function on the relationship between art infusion and brand attitudes. Study 3 aimed to test the mediating effect of self-inauthenticity feelings among customers harboring value-expressive attitudes. Participants with high levels of value-expressive attitudes reported more positive brand evaluation when the advertisement featured an artwork (vs. no artwork). Furthermore, art infusion reduced the feelings of self-inauthenticity, thereby enhancing brand attitudes. The findings highlight the importance of art infusion pertinent to improving brand evaluation and mitigating potential negative psychological consequences of luxury consumption, a relatively unexplored research area.