The Mere Exposure Effect

Ever wondered why you can still remember that TV jingle from when you were a child? (We’re looking at you Toys’R’Us). Or why that logo you’ve seen but never paid attention to much before suddenly shines out from the shelf at the shops?

That’s the mere exposure effect at work. It’s a powerful psychological principle that plays a huge role in consumer behaviour. So today we’re taking another dive into the world of consumer psychology and looking at the mere exposure effect, what it is, and why it matters in your marketing and product demos. 

What is the Mere Exposure Effect?

The mere exposure effect (also known as the familiarity principle) is a psychological concept first suggested in 1876 by Gustav Fechner, but it didn’t really gain any traction until it was built on by Robert Zajonc in the 1960s. The basic idea is that people tend to develop a liking or dislike for things just because they’re familiar with them. Zajonc’s experiments found that a liking for an object could be achieved with minimal stimulus input, and that the judgements were made without any prior cognitive processes. In plain English, it means that people identified that they liked or disliked something without knowing a lot about it, and without any conscious thought about it. It’s almost an instinctual thing. The cliff notes of his research are essentially:

• The more we see or experience something, the more we tend to like it
• Familiarity leads to comfort, and comfort leads to trust
• Even without conscious awareness, repeated exposure can influence our preferences

This is one of the main reasons that brands will repeat logos, jingles or taglines over and over again. The more we encounter them, the more we associate them with reliability and credibility. And the multiple touchpoints needed to make a sale, which is one of the foundations of modern marketing? It all stems from the mere exposure effect.

How Does it Work?

The whole basis of the mere exposure effect is unconscious exposure to stimulus. Because it doesn’t matter whether the audience is actively engaged in the ‘stimulus’ (your activity) or not, it means you should take every chance to put your brand in front of them as you can, in as many formats as you can. Zajonc found that repeated exposure to a stimuli, even without conscious awareness, lead to increased liking or preference for it. Further research in 2003 linked the mere exposure effect to something called perceptual fluency, which is essentially how easy it is for our brains to process incoming stimulus. As people encounter a stimulus repeatedly, their brains become more efficient at recognising it, and this ease of recognition then breeds that positive feeling.

Other researchers have suggested that this effect is deeply rooted in our evolution as humans. Our brains have evolved to associate familiarity with safety and positive outcomes. After all, unfamiliar stimuli may have posed a threat back in our caveman days, and so we avoided it in favour of familiar, safe things. Fast forward several thousand years, and people are still drawn to what they know. It’s why we have a favourite order from our favourite pizza place, and why we all have ‘comfort shows’ we will watch again and again.

Ok, enough of the science lessons! Here are 3 examples of the mere exposure effect that have definitely happened in your life. Yes, we are that certain.

Marketing: Brands often use repeated advertising to create familiarity. Even if you’ve never bought or consumed the product, we’re willing to bet there are brands you have a strong knowledge and association with just based on their adverts.

People: People tend to find the people they see more often more likeable than those they don’t. You probably have more positive associations with the auntie who visits once a week than the one you only see at Christmas. 

Music: You might not enjoy a song on the first listen, but after hearing it multiple times, it grows on you and becomes much more enjoyable. What was once a ‘meg’ song on the radio becomes your latest bop. An earworm you can’t quite shake.

The Mere Exposure Effect in Product Demos

Now that we have all that clear, let’s talk about how the mere exposure concept applies to product demos – an area where brand familiarity is often the ultimate goal.

A Hands-On Experience to Create Comfort: One of the biggest barriers customers face when purchasing a new product is uncertainty. In general, people don’t like taking risks, especially with unfamiliar brands. But the more they interact with a product, the more they trust it, and the more comfortable they become with the brand. That’s why test drives, free trials, live demos and samplings are so effective – they create repeated exposure and build comfort with the consumer. A good example of this is Apple. They encourage users to play with their products in the stores, getting used to them so that they feel natural, and make the most sense to buy when you’re ready.

Follow-Up Demos Reinforce Familiarity: Ever tried a free sample of a drink or snack, but didn’t get around to buying it? That’s why brands use follow-up strategies to remind you about the product and encourage you to buy it. The more times a potential customer engages with the product, the more likely they are to buy. 

For example, say a new coffee brand offers free samples at the supermarket. A few days later, they send a voucher for money off via email to the people who signed up at the sampling station. They also follow up with a social media ad featuring custom reviews from the sampling and a limited-time discount. This simple strategy creates multiple touchpoints with the customer, helping reinforce the product’s value and increasing the likelihood of purchase.

Repeat Product Placements: Even if a customer hasn’t engaged directly with the product yet, seeing it used in multiple contexts can have the same effect. That’s why so many brands create a range of ads as well as working with influencers who can showcase their products ‘in situ’ and provide social proof. It all creates a sense of trust and familiarity with the brand before the audience has even tried it. 

Essentially, the mere exposure effect is proof that familiarly breeds preference, which in business, leads to sales. Whether that’s done through advertising, product demos, social proof or something else doesn’t really matter – it’s all about exposing potential customers to your brand more and more. If you’re trying to make an impact, don’t just show up once. Show up consistently. The more people see you, the more they’ll trust you, and the more likely they are to buy from you. If you’re looking for ways to expose customers to your brand and give them an easy gateway to trying your product, we would love to help. Just get in touch with us today to speak to one of our expert team.