Head start in visual merchandising: Anthropomorphism of mannequin heads in storefront windows

Mannequins play a critical role in visual merchandising of fashion storefront windows but remain vastly under-represented in academic literature. To fill this gap, we scrutinize the role of abstract, stylized, and anthropomorphized mannequin heads and their impact on consumers’ store entry propensity. The methodology features a triangular approach, including observational field research, in-depth expert interviews, and an experiment with 740 participants. Results reveal that anthropomorphized mannequin heads, especially in conjunction with a head tilt, reach the highest store entry propensity scores. Our contribution offers original insights for visual merchandising practitioners and supplies fresh perspectives for further research in fashion marketing.