“Good Gestalt” of Image Ad Design: Exploring Screen-Ad Congruence Effects on Ad Aesthetic Appreciation and Likeability in Social Media Feeds

We introduce a new form of design congruence (screen–ad congruence) between the image ad and the device screen’s perceptual features (shape, orientation, symmetry) and test its effects on ad aesthetic appreciation and likeability in social media feeds. Gestalt principles of perceptual grouping and the Fluency Theory of Asthetic Pleasure explain the superiority of complete screen–ad congruence effects on ad aesthetic appreciation and likeability in Studies 1 and 2, compared with no effects in Study 3, in which three-dimensionality of the screen–ad congruence relationship is violated. The findings suggest that screen–ad congruence is another example of “Good Gestalt” design with the potential to generate ad aesthetic appreciation across device screens.