Cognitive categorization of new hybrid products and implicit attitude formation: Empirical study of sensory stimulation

Abstract

According to social psychology researchers, categorizing a new product may involve the formation of automatic judgments at the subconscious level. This study aimed to ascertain if attitudes might be formed unintentionally when categorizing a new hybrid product under the effect of associated sensory inputs. Data were collected using an explicit and implicit approach: an explicit categorization measure, an explicit attitude scale, and the “Single Category Implicit Association Test’’ (SC-IAT), from 280 Moroccan university students having a normal sense of smell and taste, under the effects of two types of sensory stimuli (smell and taste) and according to two learning conditions linked to two categories of existing products. The data were then computed and processed using the “Statistical Package for Social Sciences” and the “Inquisit Lab’’. The study’s findings revealed that the respondents were able to categorize the new product into one of the targeted categories (depending on the learning condition of each category) after exposure to sensory stimuli (olfactory and gustatory stimuli) related to this product and were also able to form an implicit and explicit attitude towards it. The occurrence of the categorization process and the formation of these two distinct types of attitudes can be explained by the olfactory and gustatory sensory stimulation during the experiment, which helped the participants recognize the basic domain of the new product and then transfer knowledge and affects to it.