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This article demonstrates that variations in ceiling height can prime concepts that, in turn, affect how consumers process information. We theorized that when rea-sonably salient, a high versus low ceiling can prime the concepts of freedom versus confinement, respectively. These concepts, in turn, can prompt consumers ’ use of predominately relational versus item-specific processing. Three studies found support for this theorizing. On a variety of measures, ceiling height–induced re-lational or item-specific processing was indicated by people’s reliance on integrated and abstract versus discrete and concrete ideation. Hence, this research sheds light on when and how ceiling height can affect consumers ’ responses. There appears to be widespread belief that ceiling heightcan affect the quality of indoor consumption experi-ences. Fischl and Gärling (2004) found that ceiling height ranked among the top three architectural details that influ-enced consumers ’ psychological well-being. Much anec-dotal evidence also supports this view. A home development company that uses design ideas inspired by the guru of
Meyers‐Levy et al. (Wed,) studied this question.