Beauty May Not Be Effective: The Effects of Imaginative Display on Green Product Evaluation

Even though imaginative displays are an essential determinant for improving product evaluations in traditional products, there is little research on imaginative displays in the display of green products. Therefore, this article addresses this gap by examining the imaginative display of green products. Three studies show that relative to imaginative displays (i.e., novel and esthetics), standard displays (i.e., non-novel and neutral esthetics) increase green product evaluations, suggesting that imaginative displays positively affect traditional products but are unsuitable for green products. In addition, standard displays (vs. imaginative displays) increase product evaluations for altruistic green products. In contrast, imaginative displays (vs. standard displays) increase product evaluations for egoistic green products. The article aims to change the practice of wasting space resources for displaying green products. More critically, the article raises new insight for policymakers and merchants to achieve sustainable green consumption.