Research on the Mechanism of Offline Retail Visual Marketing Influence on Consumer Purchase Decisions

With the the rapid growth of online shopping, offline physical stores face declining customer traffic and intensified competition. Compared with online consumption, which is largely based on information presented through digital interfaces, offline stores use visual elements such as display windows, lighting, product displays, and digital displays to influence consumers' perceptions of the store environment, product value, and brand image, affecting purchase decisions. Based on SOR (Stimulus-Body-Response) theory and referencing foreign research on retail and consumer behavior from 2023 to 2026, this paper analyzes the pathways of visual marketing's influence on consumer decision-making from three perspectives: visual perception, emotional experience, and consumer behavior. It further explores the moderating roles of individual consumer characteristics, shopping contexts, and product attributes in shaping the effects of visual marketing. The study finds that a coordinated and orderly visual environment can boost consumers' perceived value of stores and products, enhance positive emotions, extend dwell time, and promote purchase intention formation. Issues such as visual information overload and chaotic spatial layout increase consumers' psychological burden, hence reducing shopping experience and purchase tendencies. Based on the research results, this paper proposes optimization strategies for visual marketing practices, focusing on visual information hierarchy, spatial layout, product display, and scene matching.