After a while, you might even prefer the song to others you liked initially. The mere exposure effect psychology definition is when you find yourself more fond of certain things simply because you are familiar with them, which is why it is also called the familiarity principle.

This effect can influence your feelings on people, items, television shows, songs, and pretty much anything you might run into frequently. A key element is that the mere exposure effect refers to the fact that people begin to like something more without any substantive reason, other than their familiarity with it. The mere exposure effect was initially coined by Robert Zajonc, who experimented by showing participants various representations such as foreign words, faces of strangers, and Chinese characters.

Some of the participants had seen these once before, others many times, while some were viewing them for the first time. After they were presented, Zajonc asked them to rate the images' levels of pleasantness. Across the board, those who had seen the images previously liked it the most. Further studies showed that this occurs when people are stimulated by images, colors, people, etc. One of the most powerful functions of the mere exposure effect is in advertising.

By bombarding consumers with advertisements in which the company's names are presented, buyers begin to trust these brands. This occurs even though they have learned nothing new or substantive about them, but have simply become accustomed to hearing their name often, which instills an idea that they must be good and trustworthy.

In a study conducted to prove the existence of the mere exposure effect in advertising, many students around the ages of were requested to read an article on their computers.

At the top of the screen, different ads would pop up while they were reading. After they had completed the article, they would be asked a series of questions about the advertisements.

Their responses were most positive about the ad that appeared the most frequently, showing the mere exposure effect. However, not all studies agree with these findings. Some researchers believe that too much exposure in advertising leads to ambivalence among customers.

Most researchers agree exposure in advertising is most effective when a product or brand is new, but once they are mildly familiar with it, increasing exposure does not often result in increased favorability. However, this still can speak to the power of the mere exposure effect, as getting to a level of favorability creates trust in the consumer. Going forward, when they choose products, the simple thought of the brand that they believe they like because of their awareness of it can be powerful enough to sway choices in the future.

The mere exposure effect substantially impacts decision making. There is a range of decisions that people end up making because they are more familiar with one of the options, despite evidence that an alternative might be better. For example, if you are choosing where to go to college, and you fall in love with one school that you have never heard of, you read through the brochure and everything seems perfect to you, but there is a school not quite as good that you have heard the name of often, you very well might choose the lesser school because it feels "safer.

On Wall Street, many traders invest more in domestic companies due to more exposure, even if certain international companies are offering far higher numbers. When deciding what movie to watch, many will read through summaries and find a film that sounds excellent, but still choose the one they are not as interested in but have heard the name of more often.

There are millions of examples of how people make decisions simply by choosing the option they feel more comfortable with due to a false sense of understanding that comes from a baseline level of awareness.

In essence, decision-making, when impacted by the mere exposure effect, comes down to the saying "better the devil I know than the devil I don't. Mere exposure can even influence how we interact with others, whether they are strangers or close family members. If you walk by someone every single day, you will begin to feel as if you know them and you can trust them.

This is due to your frequent exposure to them alone, not because you know anything about them that would substantiate these beliefs. Some might even feel shocked if they hear someone they are familiar with did something wrong, although they know absolutely nothing about the person.

In effect, the person is still a stranger, but the mere exposure phenomena create a sense of trust, even a potential bond. In familial relationships, members will often begin to trust those who are "around" more often than those who aren't, despite their intrinsic character.

For example, if there are three children and one goes off to college, the younger two will often think of each other as their favorite siblings, even if they both prefer the one at college more objectively. The same can occur in parents. If one parent stays home and the other works, even if the one who stays home is less kind, patient, or caring, children will develop a preference for that parent due to being around them more.

When people enter into potential romantic situations, they will usually prefer those whom they have seen more often. According to Zajonc and his colleagues, the mere exposure effect occurs because being repeatedly exposed to the same person, image, or object reduces the uncertainty we feel. In other words, the mere exposure effect occurs because we feel more positively about something familiar compared to something that is new and potentially dangerous.

For example, think about the experience of watching a complex, experimental film. However, if you watch the movie a second time, the characters and plot will be more familiar to you: psychologists would say that you experienced more perceptual fluency on the second viewing. According to this perspective, experiencing perceptual fluency puts us in a positive mood. In other words, as a result of experiencing perceptual fluency, we may decide that we liked the movie more on the second viewing.

While psychologists are still debating what causes the mere exposure effect, it seems that having been previously exposed to something can change how we feel about it. And it may explain why, at least sometimes, we tend to prefer things that are already familiar to us. Share Flipboard Email. Social Sciences Psychology Sociology Archaeology Economics Ergonomics. By Elizabeth Hopper Elizabeth Hopper.

Elizabeth Hopper, Ph. Learn about our Editorial Process. Key Takeaways: Mere Exposure Effect The mere exposure effect refers to the finding that, the more often people have previously been exposed to something, the more they like it. Researchers have found that the mere exposure effect occurs even if people do not consciously remember that they have seen the object before. Cite this Article Format. Word values, word frequency, and visual duration thresholds.

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Exposure, satiation, and stimulus discriminability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 21 3 , Simply Psychology's content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Toggle navigation. Theories Research Methods Mental Health A-level Statistics. Cognitive Bias Mere Exposure Effect What is the Mere Exposure Effect? By Charlotte Nickerson , published March 08 Summary According to the mere exposure effect, people show an increased liking for stimuli as they are exposed to it more. This effect is logarithmic; the first few exposures someone has to a stimulus are more potent than later ones. Robert Zajonc devised the mere exposure effect through three types of supporting studies.

These studies involved word frequency and word evaluation, interpersonal contact and interpersonal attraction, and musical frequency and liking.

There might be affiliate links on this page, which means we get a small commission of anything you buy. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Please do your own research before making any online purchase. It is widely accepted that people resist change.

Instead, people prefer to find security in familiar approaches to life—which makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint , considering humans once perceived new stimuli to be a threat to their safety. And the fact that familiarity breeds comfort is all the more reason to stick to the things we know on a regular basis and not disrupt the norm.

What is this food? Where does it come from? What does it taste like? This is known as the Mere Exposure Effect. But what is the mere exposure effect and how can it impact us on an everyday basis? In this article, we will define the mere exposure effect and look at why it is important to recognize. Then, we will look at 5 examples of how this concept can impact your life. The mere exposure effect is one of the many mental shortcuts our brains use to make quick decisions.

When presented with options, the mere exposure effect says our brains tend to favor whatever is familiar. The human mind likes to seek the path of least resistance, leading us to prefer recognizable stimuli. In other words, we become partial to things because we have experienced them before.

Before the mere exposure effect became a known phenomenon, scholar Robert Zajonc observed that the initial exposure to a stimulus elicited a fear response in all organisms. However, with each subsequent exposure, less avoidance was observed, and interest began to pique. The effect has been identified among various cultures, species, and situations. First, the mere exposure effect can impact your ability to make informed, objective decisions. Sensible decisions are made by evaluating every option based on its potential outcome.

When we stick with what we know, not only are we narrowing our perspective away from new ideas, we are also limiting our choices. While a familiar choice may be satisfactory, consider the opportunity cost of losing out on a valuable new experience that could enrich your life or your understanding of the topic at hand. When used in the media, the mere exposure effect reinforces outdated social norms and stereotypes.

With limited exposure to different ethnicities, people can develop a skewed perception of different races and cultures if they have had limited real-life interactions with people from that culture. However, increasing the presence of minorities in the media could result in positive behavioral responses in the face of an initial encounter of diverse people.

Studies on race relations have actually reinforced the mere exposure effect by demonstrating that increased interracial contact can reduce prejudice. When you consider the occurrences of the mere exposure effect in the media, it can often be considered a phenomenon that happens on a subconscious level, but the repetition and pattern of how actors are cast can certainly leave a lasting impact on any audience.

Certain songs may help you relish in positive memories or reminisce with your friends. Radio stations have picked up on this and popularized new songs by sandwiching them between two recognizable songs to prevent listeners from switching stations. Listening to new music can introduce you to a different genre that you enjoy and that inspires you.

Plus, listening to new music will give you a complete cognitive workout. Research has shown that listening to music has health benefits such as reducing anxiety, pain, and blood pressure, and improving mood, sleep quality, mental acuity, and memory.

To combat the mere exposure effect when listening to new music, incorporate some songs that you know into the mix to develop a connection with new songs and diversify your playlists. Companies intentionally design advertisements to appeal to specific target audiences.

One common tactic that brands often use is the depiction of families in their advertisements, because the idea of family is the most common ground among people worldwide. Therefore, using families in marketing can help create a sense of intimacy and help audiences instantly feel like the product being advertised is familiar and comfortable. People feel comfortable keeping their money inside of their home country, while investing overseas feels more risky.

But when you consider the international connections of the global economy, there is no financial rationality behind sticking to the familiar. Being aware of the tendency to favor stocks that are familiar can help remind you to do your research and look at your financial options objectively—because often, basing investment decisions on familiarity can hurt your returns in the long run.

Because of this, it helps to look at reliable and objective information that may be unfamiliar to you before allocating your money into investments. And the mere exposure effect provides an explanation for this.

Children tend to see the same people every day at school—and likely sit next to the same people day in and day out as well. But in adulthood, our schedules are less consistent and we come into contact with a much wider variety of people every day. Studies on the relationship between proximity and friendship have found that people who come into contact on a regular basis often become friends.

And when you consider the origin of your relationship with your best friends, you will likely recall that you became close friends through repeated contact, which demonstrates how the mere exposure effect operated to gradually build a mutual liking for each other the more time you spent together.

You can use the mere exposure effect to your advantage when it comes to your social life or when trying to build your professional contacts. You can use the mere exposure effect to your advantage by scheduling regular activities with people to generate a sense of camaraderie through familiarity.

By simply seeing your face on a regular basis, a sense of fondness can grow, therefore allowing you to naturally form personal relationships. And, the more you are exposed to someone, not only will their liking for you increase , your liking for them will do the same.

Finally, the mere exposure effect also applies to romantic relationships. This phenomenon can explain a key factor that initiates an attraction between people.

Continued exposure between two people can affect their decision making and impact their feelings towards each other. Sometimes the most effective decisions are geared toward things that are unfamiliar to us. And, sticking with what we know prevents us from growing or experiencing new ideas and points of view.

This can be limiting in life when making future decisions with a narrowed perspective. Taking a proactive approach by recognizing the value of unexplored experiences and diversity could limit the frequency of our exposure to any one stimulus. On a larger societal scale, the consequences of the mere exposure effect can be more severe.

But without being willing to explore new options, companies can miss out on critical organizational and technological updates and therefore fall behind in an environment of evolving business practices. Similarly, academic programs that have been created around potentially outdated schools of thought may continue to be affected by the mere exposure effect and neglect to explore the significant conclusions that modern or dissenting theories highlight.

Having awareness that the mere exposure effect can enforce societal norms that often need to be revised is the first step to overcoming this potentially limiting school of thought. Instead, take a proactive approach by recognizing the value of new experiences.

By seeking out unfamiliar adventures, you may limit the impact that the mere exposure effect may have on you. The mere exposure effect is one of the most impactful psychological effects in our decision making processes. To learn about more cognitive biases that can impact your decisions and behavior, check out this article for a list of common biases many people have. Connie Mathers is a professional editor and freelance writer.

When she is not writing, Connie is either spending time with her daughter and two dogs, running, or working at her full-time job as a social worker in Richmond, VA. What You Will Learn What Is the Mere Exposure Effect? Race and the Media 2. Popular Songs 3. In Marketing 4. In Finances 5.

Interpersonal Relationships How to Avoid the Mere Exposure Effect Final Thoughts on the Mere Exposure Effect.

Home » ARTICLES » Mere Exposure Effect — Meaning, Importance, Examples, Limitations. All these factors show the power of the mere-exposure effect. Robert Zajonc devised the mere exposure effect through three types of supporting studies. Plus, listening to new music will give you a complete cognitive workout. After they have been around the artwork a few times, perhaps over weeks or even months, ask them again. By advertising a company several times to the audience develops a sense of familiarity with them about the brands.

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