Nature sells: How visual biophilia influences promotional effectiveness of service firms

Amidst the crowded media environment and growing consumer disconnection from nature, leveraging biophilia - the innate human tendency to connect with nature - offers a compelling way for service firms to attract and engage consumers. Although biophilia in service environments has been studied, its comprehensive application in service-firm promotions - both direct and indirect - remains underexplored. This research advances service literature by examining the effects of direct and indirect biophilia in service advertising using schema congruity theory. Across two studies, we show that indirect biophilia led to more favorable ad evaluations compared to direct biophilia and no biophilia (control). Although direct biophilia is known for restorative effects, we show that indirect biophilia in service advertising (i.e., abstract depictions of natural scenes, nature-like materials, and color schemes) outperforms direct biophilia by eliciting perceived novelty and mystery, which in turn enhance ad evaluations and behavioral intentions. Furthermore, our findings indicate biophilia yields the greatest benefits when the service is conceptually aligned with nature. Overall, this research supports using biophilia in service ads to boost consumer engagement.