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Cust. Need. and Solut. (2016) 3:4861
DOI 10.1007/s40547-015-0051-2
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Sophisticated by Design: the Nonconscious Influence of Primed Concepts and Atmospheric Variables on Consumer Preferences
T. Andrew Poehlman1 & Ravi Dhar2 & John A. Bargh3
Published online: 21 May 2015# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract Four studies sought to bridge the gap between the consumer literature on atmospheric effects on shopping and research on prime-to-behavior effects. Studies 13 found that nonconsciously priming sophistication influenced consumer preferences, lending credence to the hypothesis that the accessibility of concepts related to sophistication is sufficient to produce the effects of some atmospheric variables. Unobtrusively priming sophistication led participants to prefer an up-scale candy bar rather than a plain candy bar (study 1), to select a high-brow movie rather than a low-brow movie as a raffle prize (study 2), and to order more expensive items at a real-life restaurant (study 3). The effects of sophistication primes were strongest among individuals who had positive automatic associations with sophistication (study 2). Study 4 directly linked primed concepts to an atmospheric variable, demonstrating that music played over headphones influenced both the automatic accessibility of words related to sophistication and corresponding consumer preferences.
Keywords Atmospherics . Priming . Restaurants . Sophistication . Prime-to-behavior effects
A quick walk down Broadway in New York Citys SoHo district instantly reveals myriad retail stores for consumers to enter. Even though these shops are geographically very close to one another, upon entrance, the consumers experience of each store can be tremendously different. A quick stop into Sephora, Ann Taylor Loft, or the Levis Store offers an experience for the consumer almost wholly different than one that can be had merely one door down. This difference in the consumers experience of the store; the flooring, the music, and the scentthe atmospheric elements of the storecan vary wildly and provoke very different consumer behaviors. These differences not only project disparate brand positioningAnn Taylor Loft is sophisticated, Sephora is austere and futuristic, and the Levis Store is young and vibrantthe cues contained in these store atmospherics can also lead to different consumer behaviors.
Over the past 30 years, there has been a considerable amount of empirical research trying to determine how such Batmospheric^ variables influence consumers perceptions of the...