The ups and downs of visual orientation: The effects of diagonal orientation on product judgment

Abstract Orienting a logo upward or downward may seem like an arbitrary graphic design decision, but we propose that it can have important implications for consumer judgments. In particular, we find across four experimental studies and a content analysis that diagonal direction can convey different levels of activity with upward—or ascending—diagonals conveying greater activity and effort than downward—or descending—diagonals. Consequently, when the context highlights the benefits of activity (vs. passivity), upward (vs. downward) diagonals lead to more favorable product judgments, greater product efficacy beliefs, and greater post-consumption satisfaction. Furthermore, we provide process evidence that perceived product efficacy beliefs mediate these effects, and that the effect is strongest when the object being visually oriented is text rather than images. These findings are particularly important in light of our content analysis findings that diagonal orientation is a relatively underutilized design feature. Collectively, our findings suggest that firms should use upward diagonals when the product context highlights a favorable view of activity. Otherwise, the firm should use downward diagonals, especially when the product context encourages consumers to view passivity favorably.