Video advertisements often show actors and influence agents consuming and enjoying products in slow motion. By prolonging depictions of influence agents’ consumption utility, slow motion cinematographic effects ostensibly enhance social proof and signal product qualities that are otherwise difficult to infer visually (e.g., pleasant tastes, smells, haptic sensations, etc.). Seven studies including an eye-tracking study, a Facebook Ads field experiment, and lab and online experiments—all using real ads across diverse contexts—demonstrate that slow motion (vs. natural speed) can backfire and undercut product appeal by making the influence agent’s behavior seem more intentional and extrinsically motivated. The authors rule out several alternative explanations by showing that the effect attenuates for individuals with lower intentionality bias, is mitigated under cognitive load, and reverses when ads use non-human influence agents. The authors conclude by highlighting the potential for cross-pollination between visual information processing and social cognition research, particularly in contexts such as persuasion and trust, and discuss managerial implications for visual marketing, especially on digital and social platforms.

视频广告通常以慢动作显示演员和影响代理人消费和享受产品。通过延长对影响代理的消费效用的描述，慢动作电影效果表面上增强了社会证明和信号产品质量，而这些质量在视觉上难以推断（例如，愉快的味道、气味、触觉等）。包括眼球追踪研究、Facebook 广告现场实验以及实验室和在线实验在内的七项研究——均使用跨不同环境的真实广告——表明慢动作（与自然速度相比）可能会适得其反，并削弱产品吸引力行为似乎更有意和外在动机。作者排除了几种替代解释，表明这种影响对于具有较低意向性偏见的个体会减弱，在认知负荷下减轻，并在广告使用非人类影响代理时逆转。最后，作者强调了视觉信息处理和社会认知研究之间交叉传播的潜力，特别是在说服和信任等背景下，并讨论了视觉营销的管理意义，尤其是在数字和社交平台上。