The Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and Online Shopping Behavior: The Impact of Visual Stimuli on Attitude Towards the Ad and Purchase Intention

In the digital world, consumers are constantly being exposed to an overwhelming number of visual stimuli. Online advertisements are the big new showroom for brands – all are striving for attention and attract the right customer. Generally, advertisements combine vivid colors and strong movements to encourage and capture the consumer attention, but is this always the right strategy? Literature shows that people could react differently to similar stimuli, depending on their personality traits – specifically, the visual stimuli embedded in online ads are not an exception. Thus, brands could eventually be repelling (rather than enticing) potential customers by using vivid colors, high dynamism, and information overload. The aim of this research is to assess how people with a higher sensitivity to external stimuli, commonly defined as Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs, Aron and Aron 1997) react when exposed to ads with excessive visual stimuli (i.e., vivid colors, dynamic imagery, complex layouts). Additionally, participants’ biometric responses (heart rate variability and time-response), attitude towards the ad, and purchase intention will be measured. A quantitative methodology will be used, involving an experimental design and lab data collection. Theoretical implications are discussed, and hypotheses are presented.