title: Turning art into mere illustration: concretizing art renders its influence context dependent.
abstract: Broadly speaking, artworks are accorded a special significance and are recognized as powerful communication tools. In the current research, the authors posit that the "specialness" of artworks may be diminished simply by emphasizing that which is depicted in them. This emphasis results in the artwork being viewed as a mere illustration rather than a work of art. Specifically, the influence of an "artwork as art" is context independent, but the influence of an "artwork as illustration" is context dependent. The authors demonstrate this phenomenon in two experiments, in the context of products associated with artworks. In a third experiment, they further demonstrate that an abstract (concrete) mind-set aligns with the influence of an artwork as art (illustration).
authors.affiliation: Carroll School of Management, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA. hagtvedt@bc.edu
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hagtvedt
authors.forename: Vanessa M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Patrick
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001154:Art; D004954:Esthetics; D006801:Humans; D012927:Social Control, Informal