Intuitive Hedonics: Consumer Beliefs About the Dynamics of Liking

Consumer beliefs about influences on liking are explored. Questionnaires were administered to explore the extent to which respondents’ implicit beliefs resemble any of six concepts established in experimental psychology. Results indicate respondents apply beliefs consistent with classical conditioning and Weber’s law and expect adaption to occur in a wide variety of situations. They do not show a general belief in cognitive dissonance effects. They probably do not believe in affective opponent processes (rebound) or the ability of exposure alone (“mere exposure”) to increase liking, although the beliefs they do apply predict the same outcome in some contexts. Implications for consumer behavior are discussed.