Value congruence in evaluations of product aesthetics: Political conservatives’ preference for kinderschema cute products

We show that political conservatives, relative to liberals, prefer kinderschema (i.e., babylike) cute products because this aesthetic is congruent with the purity/sanctity moral foundation. Across nine controlled experiments (n = 3,648), we establish the basic link between conservatism and preference for the kinderschema aesthetic. We triangulate to a purity-related process through mediation, moderation by cuteness type (infantile vs. whimsical) and product category (mug vs. condom), and analyses showing that ideological stances on purity-related issues (e.g., abortion, same-sex marriage) uniquely predict the effect. The robustness of the effect is supported by multi-country replications, longitudinal designs confirming independent measurement of key variables, and ecological validation from online search data (n = 1,808), which show that state-level conservatism predicts state-level interest in cute products. This research establishes political ideology and moral judgements as important antecedents to consumers’ aesthetic choices. We discuss strategic implications for the segmentation, targeting, and positioning of kinderschema cute products.