How to Allocate White Space in Ad Design? The Impact of Product Layouts on Perceived Entitativity and Advertising Performance

Abstract

White space (empty space) is an important factor in visual ad design, yet few studies focus on the specific types of white space and their influence on ad design. In this research, we systematically review white space literature; identify two types of white space, termed interspace (space in between a product layout) and circumspace (space surrounding a product layout); and investigate their effects on product layout perceptions. In four studies, we propose a not yet widely adopted practice: When holding the total white space constant, a lower interspace/circumspace ratio (more compressed product layout), compared with a higher interspace/circumspace ratio (less compressed product layout), can increase the perceived entitativity (i.e., perception of a unit as a group) of a collection of products in an ad and, ultimately, ad evaluation, purchase intentions, and click-through rates (CTRs). We further rule out potential alternative explanations and identify a theoretically and practically relevant boundary condition: If the products are framed as conceptually dissimilar, the perception of entitativity becomes less important, which reduces ad performance. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our research.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the reviewers and editors for their guidance and Dr. Anand Kumar and Dr. Lam An for insightful comments on an earlier version of this article. We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Notes

1 An independent coder who was blind to the hypotheses coded the layouts. Those with no significant space in between the products but with significant space surrounding the product layout were coded as more compressed, and others were coded as less compressed.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zhihao Yu

Zhihao Yu (PhD, University of South Florida) is an assistant professor, Department of Marketing & Entrepreneurship, College of Business Administration, University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Veronika Ponomarenko

Veronika Ponomarenko is a doctoral candidate, School of Marketing and Innovation, Muma College of Business, University of South Florida.

Luke Ingalls Liska

Luke Ingalls Liska (PhD, University of South Florida) is an assistant professor, Department of Marketing, Davis College of Business and Economics, Radford University.