This paper examines the relationship between loneliness and shape preference for angularity or circularity. Across five studies, we show that lonely (vs. nonlonely) consumers prefer angular over circular shapes. This effect is driven by the perceived fit between feelings of loneliness (vs. non-loneliness) and angular (vs. circular) shapes. Moreover, this effect occurs only when consumption is private. In public consumption, shape (angular vs. circular) does not affect lonely consumers’ preferences. We demonstrate these effects in various product- and logo-shape elements, such as logo typefaces (Study 1a), app icons (Study 1b), store displays (Study 2), and product designs (Studies 3a and 3b). These findings add to theories of sensory marketing and loneliness and yield insights for marketing practitioners.

本文研究了孤独感与对棱角或圆形的形状偏好之间的关系。在五项研究中，我们表明孤独（与非孤独）消费者更喜欢有角的形状而不是圆形的形状。这种效果是由孤独感（与非孤独感）和有角（与圆形）形状之间的感知匹配驱动的。而且，这种效应只有在消费是私人的时才会发生。在公共消费中，形状（角与圆形）不会影响孤独消费者的偏好。我们在各种产品和徽标形状元素中展示了这些效果，例如徽标字体（研究 1a）、应用程序图标（研究 1b）、商店展示（研究 2）和产品设计（研究 3a 和 3b）。这些发现增加了感官营销和孤独的理论，并为营销从业者提供了见解。