1 Seeing the Big Picture: The Effect of Height on the Level of Construal

Drawing on research on grounded cognition and metaphorical representation, the authors propose and confirm in five studies that physical height or even the mere concept of height can impact the perceptual and conceptual levels of mental construal. As such, consumers perceiving themselves to be physically elevated or “high ” are more likely to adopt a global perceptual processing and higher level of conceptual construal, while those perceiving themselves to be physically “low ” are more likely to adopt a local perceptual processing and lower level of conceptual construal. This difference in level of construal also impacts product choices involving trade-offs between long-term benefit and short-term effort. Alternative accounts such as vertical distance, visual distance, and perceived power are addressed. By highlighting the novel relationship between height and construal level, these findings contribute to research on grounded cognition and construal-level theory, while also providing practical suggestions to marketing managers across a variety of domains. Key words: height, construal level, global and local perceptual processing, grounded cognition, consumer preference