Generative art enhances virtual shopping experience

Art infusion theory - the idea that displaying art in retail settings can positively impact consumer behavior - can be applied to the metaverse with similar results, a Cornell design researcher has shown.

Employing algorithm-fueled generative art, So-Yeon Yoon, professor of human centered design in the College of Human Ecology (CHE), and colleagues found that the installation in a virtual store enhanced perceptions of exclusivity and aesthetic pleasure for both mass-market and luxury retailers.

"When we think about art, we think it's more closely aligned with the luxury market," Yoon said. "But this AI-powered generative art has this capacity to be more practical, affordable and sustainable compared to the expensive artwork that only a luxury market may afford. I think it's encouraging to see that the mass brand can benefit, as well."

Yoon, also director of the Design-User Experience-Technology (DUET) Lab, is senior author of"Exploring the Impact of Generative Art in Virtual Stores: A Metaverse Study on Consumer Perception and Approach Intention," which published online Sept. 26 in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. Co-authors are Jhovanna Vanessa Perez, M.S. '23, now a researcher at FutureBrand; and former CHE postdoctoral researcher Woo Bin Kim, now an assistant professor of fashion at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, South Korea.

Yoon recently employed generative art in gallery shows and dance-theater collaboration, creating dynamic stage environments for performance in New York City, and wondered if the same idea could be applied to virtual retail spaces.

"Big events incorporate generative art a lot, but I think it's more accessible than people might think," she said. "I see this research as an opportunity to show that it can be adopted in virtual retail stores, and see what effect it actually has on customers."

The researchers conducted two experiments involving generative art, which can be both dynamic and static, in virtual fashion retailers. For the first, they created pairs of virtual stores (two mass-market and two luxury brands) that were identical except that one contained a generative art display - a video projected onto a white wall, with ever-changing black-and-white patterns. The other featured a plain white wall.

The 120 study participants were all women, with an average age of around 28. The team found that the presence of art was met with positive reactions in both types of stores; answers were overwhelmingly positive to survey measurement statements such as "I perceive this store as luxurious" and "All in all, this store is attractive to me."

"We actually found that it had more of an effect on the mass brand shoppers versus the luxury brand," Yoon said. "It worked better for the participants less familiar with art, which was surprising."

The second study, involving 90 women, sought to determine which form of art (static or dynamic) was more affecting in terms of consumer behavior, including the likelihood of spreading the word online, known as electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM).

Perceptions of exclusivity and aesthetic pleasure were greater in the dynamic-art condition as opposed to the static condition, as were e-WOM intentions. Interestingly, the effect was greater among participants who identified as having either low or average artistic openness.

"It's not that those with high artistic openness were negatively influenced," she said. "They were like, 'Wow,' and the people who were less familiar were like, 'Wow!!' That was the difference."

Yoon said that while the addition of fine art in a mass-market retail outlet might not make economic sense, installing some form of computer-generated art - already popular in major sports events, concerts and interactive gallery shows - could be an option. She is exploring other settings that could benefit from this type of dynamic installation.

"I'd like to explore contexts beyond the retail market - like assisted-living or health care facilities, or retirement communities," she said. "You don't need artists creating one after another. This is constant, like a living art form. It's dynamic, and once it's created, you have an unlimited number of variations."

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Cornell Center for Social Sciences.