To What Extent Do Contextual Image backgrounds affect Purchase Intention for Online Home Décor Products?

This study aimed to investigate whether there is a link between contextual imagery used for online products and purchase conversion to ascertain whether contextual imagery increased sales and if this result was more prevalent in online venues where such imagery is encouraged in the main search results. Three online platforms were considered – Amazon, Wayfair and an online website with data from 36152 recorded sessions from customers viewing these products across all platforms resulting in 1410 total sales. Contextual imagery was found only to increase sales of home décor products on websites where contextual imagery is encouraged in search results as a lead image. There was no such relationship on Amazon which does not encourage contextual imagery in main search results. Contextual imagery was found to proportionately increase sales for these products in online venues where such imagery is encouraged in the main search results with sales uplift percentages of 94% and 435% respectively for the two websites considered. This research demonstrates a notable difference between purchasing behaviours of consumers when exposed to contextual imagery within certain online platforms using data from real-world customer purchases