Online shopping continues to grow globally, with total e-commerce sales estimated at $6 trillion by 2024 and consumers in Western Europe making nearly 19 online purchases per year. In this rapidly expanding landscape, online retailers are increasingly investing in interactive and contextual product images to capture customer attention. But do these visual strategies actually work? This is what PhD candidate Rowena Summerlin of Tilburg University investigated .
Summerlin concludes that product images—especially interactive versions—can indeed influence consumer purchase intentions, but that this effect is context-dependent. According to her research, interactive images, especially for individual consumers, increase the perception of a product’s higher quality, which can strengthen purchase intentions. However, the impact depends on factors such as product price, customer type, and the platform on which the images are displayed. For business customers, the effect appears to be virtually nonexistent.
Analyses of real marketplace data show that contextual images can increase sales on some websites, but have little effect on other platforms. The researchers point out that this is likely related to the differing norms and customs of different online environments. The strongest effects occurred with more expensive products and during peak shopping periods, when consumers themselves are more uncertain about their choices.
Source: Research: How Product Images Influence Online Purchase Decisions and When They Don’t – Emerce
Robin Edgar
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