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6663The spatial concept is one of the most important components of languages. The spatial metaphor is a key window for people to understand the world, and has a deep impact on the consumption behavior. However, how spatial concepts influence consumers’ cognitions and behaviors has not been paid enough attention. What’s more, the studies of spatial metaphors in China are mainly found in linguistic and psychological areas. This paper attempts to arouse marketing researchers’ interests on this topic through reviewing the existing literature of spatial metaphors. The marketing practical implications and future research directions are discussed in the paper. Spatial metaphors refer to the projection of specific spatial concepts to non-spatial concepts. According to the existing literature, spatial metaphors can be classified into four categories, which are vertical space metaphor, horizontal space metaphor, spatial distance metaphor and space density metaphor. Vertical space metaphor usually associates with perceived value, perceived power and perceived rational/emotional; horizontal space metaphor is reflected in the fields of valence and time perception; spatial distance metaphor, which is regarded as another important dimension of spatial metaphors, is often mapped by consumers to other aspects of distance perception, such as social distance and temporal distance; while space density metaphor is related to consumer perception of wealth and social status. How the different categories of spatial metaphors affect the consumption behavior is reviewed in the paper. The existing literature mainly focuses on how the four types of spatial concepts in print advertisements, packaging and price tags design may affect consumers’ behaviors. Previous research discusses how the psychological mechanism of spatial metaphors influences the consumer behavior from three perspectives, which are cognitive perspective, individual perspective and cultural perspective. The conceptual metaphor theory and the construal-level theory are applied to explain how consumers cognitively process spatial metaphors, the body-specificity theory is used to explain how horizontal space metaphors affect the consumption behavior according to their body features, and the theory of culturally mental imagery is mainly used to explain cultural and linguistic effects of spatial metaphors. This paper discusses the marketing practical implications for space marketing practices such as print advertising, packaging and menu design. Enterprises should pay attention to the design of price tags as well as attach a great importance to the spatial density of shopping places and shelves. Based on the above analysis, the research of spatial metaphors is in head way. Future research could be done along the following lines: Firstly, we need to expand the categories of spatial metaphors. Secondly, the interaction effects between spatial metaphors and other visual variables deserve a deep study. Thirdly, the outcome variables of spatial metaphors need to be further studied. Finally, we should further explore the culture effects of spatial metaphors in Chinese background.
/ Journals / Foreign Economics & Management
Foreign Economics & Management
LiZengquan, Editor-in-Chief
ZhengChunrong, Vice Executive Editor-in-Chief
YinHuifang HeXiaogang LiuJianguo, Vice Editor-in-Chief
To See the Truth of Space: A Literature Review and Prospects of Spatial Metaphors’ Effects on the Consumption Behavior
Foreign Economics & Management Vol. 41, Issue 02, pp. 58 - 71 (2019) DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.fem.2019.02.005
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Cite this article
Liu Hongyan, Zhang Sixian. To See the Truth of Space: A Literature Review and Prospects of Spatial Metaphors’ Effects on the Consumption Behavior[J]. Foreign Economics & Management, 2019, 41(2): 58-71.
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