The Role of Cultural Congruence in the Art Infusion Effect

The art infusion effect posits that exposure to visual artworks heightens the perceived luxuriousness of related brands. Across six studies conducted in different cultural settings, we establish that the art infusion effect is dependent on cultural congruence. That is, when the artwork’s country-of-origin (CO) is culturally congruent (vs. incongruent) with the brand’s CO, such an artwork bestows higher perceptions of brand luxuriousness. This occurs because cultural incongruence attenuates the art infusion effect. We term this moderating effect as brand-artwork CO congruence and show that it qualifies art infusion even if the congruent (vs. incongruent) artwork CO is stereotypically perceived as less luxurious. We further show that perceived brand authenticity underlies the effect of brand-artwork CO congruence. Overall, the present research illustrates that cultural congruence and subsequent perception of authenticity are critical components of the art infusion effect.